^ " 1 * A. 





o > 






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NOTES TO THE PUBLISHER. 



From Rev. Br. Jacobus. 

W, Theol. Seminary, JVov.21, 1853. 

My Dear Sir,— I am glad to know that you are about to publish Mr. Howe's 
Notes of Eastern Travel ; and I am most ready to give my testimony, as a fellow- 
traveller over that route, that, judging from such sketches as I have seen, they 
will amply repay public attention. There are many travel-books, but few reliable 
ones on the lands of the Bible, and fewer still from intelligent Christian lavrnen, 
unprofessional and unpoetic. 

There cannot be too many good reports of travel in those Bible regions, wtanii 
are so poorly known. Besides, every traveller sees with his own eyes, and gives 
his own impressions, and has his own advantages in contact with men and 
things on the route. The zeal with which Mr. Howe has entered into divers 
Biblical studies, too, connected with Oriental places and customs, will give his 
book a claim on the public, and may induce other travellers to a like careful 
and Scriptural interest in the Holy Land. And when it is known that he devotes 
the profits of the work to the spread of the Gospel in that destitute region, he 
will surely have an ample reward from the Christian public. 

M. W. Dodd, Esq. M. W. Jacobus. 



From Horace Holden } Esq.. 

New York. Bee. 19, 1653. 

Dear Sir : — I am waiting, not without some impatience, for the forthcoming 
" Oriental and Sacred Scenes," by our esteemed friend, Fisher Howe, Esq. 

Mr. Howe is a matter-of-fact man, and has the faculty of transferring you to 
the very spots he describes, and enables you to see them as they actually are. 

I think the result of your publication will prove, that he has rendered a most 
acceptable service, in consenting to give to the public the benefit of his travels 
and researches. And since many of us, even in this age of motion^ have not the 
opportunity of visiting those places so endeared to the Bible reader, the regret is 
much lessened by journeying in thought over those interesting scenes, by the 
side of an old friend whom we all know and all love. Yours sincerely, 

M. W. Dodd, Esq. Horace Holden. 



From Bar id Hoadley, Esq. 

New York, Bee. 17, 1853. 

Dear Sir: — I have learned, with much satisfaction, that you are about to 
publish the work of my friend, Fisher Howe, Esq., entitled, "Oriental and 
Sacred Scenes, from Notes of Travel in Greece, Turkey, and Palestine." 

Having read many of the sketches which compose the volume soon to be 
given to the public, as they appeared from time to time in two of our religious 
periodicals. I do not hesitate to express the opinion that they will be found not 
only interesting, but also highly instructive ; and, although my personal friend- 
ship for the author may make me a partial judge, I am persuaded that no one 
will rise from their perusal without a feeling of deep interest in the " scenes" so 
graphically described. Respectfully yours, 

M, W. Dodd. Esq. David Hoadley. 



NOTES TO THE PUBLISHER. 



From Rev. Dr. Cox. 

Oxford-street, Brooklyn, JV. F., Dec. 18, 1853. 

There are many scenes of classic or religious interest in the world which we 
can never visit, or view except by using the eyes of others. It is well when a 
traveller, especially in Palestine, is so select and so authentic in his communica- 
tions, as to deserve for them the confidence of the wise and the gratitude of all. 

The qualities of such a traveller must be peculiar and definite. Too many, 
indeed, visit a country, no matter which, and, as it were, mainly to see its sur- 
face, return, talk, write and pilfer from wiser persons much of the ill-arranged 
matter of their narrations. But a soimd mind, thoroughly Christian, well- 
balanced, extensively informed, habituated to thought, familiar with the inspired 
pages, addicted to observation, inferential in its wisdom, and justly enthusiastic 
in the pursuit of knowledge, such a mind is, we had almost said, the only one 
that ought to visit the privileged and the incomparable land of Scripture and 
the Gospel, of evangelists, of apostles, and of our blessed Lord and Saviour, 
Jesus Christ — if, from subsequent and published report, the community are to 
learn anything from its productions and its accounts. 

Since the learned and invaluable publications of our countryman, Dr. Robin- 
son, our appetite and our expectation are only quickened to know more and 
more of that land of holy wonders. The theme is not exhausted. Every gen- 
uine explorer deserves to be read and considered, as sure to add something to 
the honor of Christianity and the stores of our biblical knowledge ; and, for one, 
I am quite in favor of the contributions of every intelligent layman, as such, — 
having been already indebted to honest and worthy writers of that class. In 
historical and religious riches, there is no other land on the face of the earth to 
compare with it. Daniel calls it, the, pleasant land, and the glorious land ; and 
that other banished patriot, a contemporary brother prophet, Ezekiel, sets it 
forth in a style of kindred eminence, as a land flowing with milk and hovey, 
which is the glory of all lands. 

For these, as well as other reasons, I welcome the volume of Mr. Howe. He 
journeyed thoughtful, observing, accurate ; and his itinerary was a diary too. 
He opened his Bible, and read it, and verified its historic localities on the spot, 
Old Testament and New. He did it with heart and with mind, and even wor- 
shipping as he went. Not credulous, not superstitious, not afflicted with doubts 
or morbid philosophy, he sought self-satisfaction as a Christian; and having 
found and enjoyed it, it is not strange, though it was incidental, that at last he 
yielded to publish some lessons and results for the edification of others. Not 
only the library of the family, but that of the school of the Lord's day, will be 
appropriately enriched with it ; as with all such trust-worthy and useful litera- 
ture, suitable to young and old. I think the religious public will be generally 
pleased with it. A few may otherwise regard it, for the sake, possibly, of some 
sectarian error, which the author feels it duty to set in the light of facts and 
veritable inductions. But— read the volume ! With some freedom, and personal 
as well as pastoral affection, I have written this, at the instance of his respected 
publisher. 

M. W. Dodd, Esq. Samuel H. Cox. 



XT ■: T 1 



ORIENTAL 

AND 

SACRED SCENES, 

FROM NOTES OF TRAVEL 

IN GREECE, T TJ R KEY, 

AND 

PALESTINE. 

' v/ "vcopyr^hv 
BY FISHER HOWE. 



NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY M. W. DO.DD, 

Corner of Spruce St. and City Hall Square. 

1854. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 
M . W . D O D D , 
In the Clerk's. Office for the Southern District of New York. 



STEREOTYPED BY 

THOMAS B. SMITH, 
216 William St., N. Y. 



PRINTED BY 

E. O. JENKINS, 
114 Nassan St. 



fnltmittariJ ® tortious. 



Of making many books there is no end. as Solomon 
wrote three thousand years ago ; and though it is equally 
true that much study [reading] is a weariness to the flesh, 
yet reasons will continue to exist, not only why books 
will always be multiplied, but also why they ought never 
to cease, as long as new occasions for their appearance 
remain or occur. 

That the volume now to be laid before the public should 
owe its origin to the writer, seems to himself no more 
strange than the various antecedents that have led to it. 
The travel performed, the scenes witnessed, the notes 
taken, the counsel of friends — reasons not more trite 
than true in the present case, may suggest something of 
the way it came to pass. 

It was after some months of extensive exploration in 
Europe, both insular and continental, that, in the good 
providence of our Heavenly Father, we found it feasible 



Vi PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 

to extend our tour to the classic land of Greece, and the 
further Orient ; till, amid the sacred scenes of Palestine, 
our utmost anticipations of achievement were more than 
realized. 

There, peculiarly, as elsewhere, for personal reference 
and use, we were in the habit of noting the hourly inci- 
dents as they occurred, of days occupied on scenes of 
ever-enduring interest. 

Safely returned to our own fire-side, and the bosom of 
our family, and renewedly engaged in the busy activities 
of life, we have occasionally arrested an hour, and devoted 
its minutes to give a more specific form to some of our 
treasured impressions. It was hence an easy transition 
to allow some select descriptions to appear in the religious 
journals ; and hence, at length, by successive accumula- 
tions, the plan was suggested of collecting the fugitive 
numbers, and giving them such connection, from filling up 
their interstices, in the order of our journeying s, as might 
render the whole symmetrical and serviceable — and the 
results are before the reader. 

It may seem superfluous to say that this volume pre- 
sumes not to occupy the sphere of critical investigation, 
or elaborate, historic and antiquarian research. That 
field has been most diligently explored, and its results 
recorded with an accuracy which, with travellers in 
Palestine especially, has become proverbial. With this 



PRELIMINARY" OBSERVATIONS. vii 

allusion, we take occasion here to express the obligations 
we everywhere felt to our distinguished countrymen 
Drs. Robinson and Smith, for that work — " Robinson's 
Biblical Researches"— no less valuable to the Biblical 
student, than indispensable to the traveller in Palestine, 
if he would travel to advantage, and make the most of 
his tour. Other guide books and journals of travel we 
had, but they were comparatively of little value. 

One motive that has animated our humble efforts, is 
the hope of usefulness to the teachers of the Sabbath- 
school and the Bible-class — that noble phalanx, whose 
unremitted and self-denying toils constitute one of the 
brightest signs of the times, and effective agencies for 
the conversion of the world. 

The author has realized something of his responsibility, 
and has endeavored to anticipate the review of another 
day in what has been written and what is now published. 
The current literature of the age would surely be modi- 
fied, and truly improved, were all writers to feel, as they 
ought, their proximity to another tribunal than that of 
human criticism, from the impartiality of whose adjudi- 
cations there is no appeal. 

It may be proper to add, that the profits of this volume 
incident to its authorship, if any shall accrue, are specific- 
ally devoted to the cause of promoting the Gospel in the 
East, under advisement of the secretaries of the American 



Viii PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 

Board of Commissions for Foreign Missions ; in which 
arrangement the publisher has made liberal concessions. 

It only remains to ask for this publication the candor 
and favor of the Christian public ; and in a higher rela- 
tion, that it may be mercifully used and owned of God, 
and crowned with his all-sufficient benediction. 

F. H. 



Willow-street, Brooklyn, N. Y., 
December 20th, 1853. 



Chapter page 

1. — Voyage to the Adriatic and Gulf of Lepanto . 11 

II. — Corinth and its Monuments ... 24 

III. — Athens and its Monuments .... 33 

IV. — Acropolis of Athens, and Visit to Mars Hill 42 
V. — Athens and Eleusis ..... 54 

VI.— Visit to Marathon 62 

VII. — The Pirseus, Syra and Smyrna ... 67 

VIII. — Mount Pagus and the Martyrdom of Polycarp 77 

IX. — Voyage from Smyrna to Constantinople . 83 

X. — Constantinople 87 

XI. — Voyage in the Levant — Constantinople to Beirut 100 

XII. — Beirut, and the Missionaries' Arabic Sermon 113 

XIII. — Assyrian Monuments on Mount Lebanon . 120 

XIV. — Sidon, Sarepta and Tyre . . . 130 
XV. — Ancient Tyre — Its Eelation to Prophecy . 144 

XVI.— The Portion of Asher 154 

XVII.— Acra and Carmel 163 

XVIIL— Elijah at Carmel 172 

XIX.— Xazareth and Cana ..... 181 

XX. — Tiberias and its Lake 192 

XXL— Mount Tabor 201 

XXII.— The Mission of Jehu 207 

XXIII. — Samaria and its Monuments . . . .214 

XXIV. — Mount Gerizim, and Jacob's "Well . . 230 
XXV. — Going up to Jerusalem 239 



CONTEXTS. 



Chaptrr page 

XXVL— Walks about Zion 246 

XXVIL— do. do 2o1 

XXVIIL— do. do. . . . . 268 

XXIX. — John in the Wilderness 219 

XXX.— Jericho and its Plain 293 

XXXI.— Ride to the River Jordan .... 301 

XXXIL— The River Jordan 309 

XXXIII. —John at the Jordan 318 

XXXIV. — The Dead Sea 335 

XXXY.— Bethlehem 342 

XXXVI. — Journey to Hebron — The Cave of Machpelah 353 

XXXVIL— Philip and the Eunuch ..... 362 

XXXVIII. — A Scene upon the Desert ; or, The Music of the 

Spheres . . . . . . Sll 

XXXIX.— The Mirage of the Desert . . . . 379 

XL. — Dates the " Wild Honey" of John the Baptist 384 



ILLUSTEATIONS. 

I. — A Man of Bethlehem frontispiece. 

II.— A Greek in Albanian Costume . . . .19 

III. — Plan of the Antiquities cf Athens, with Front Ele- 

vations of many of the most celebrated Temples. 42 

IV. — An Oriental Hamel, or Porter ... 14 
V. — A Woman of Xazareth 186 

VI.— The Pool of Siloam 212 

VII. — View of Hebron, and Tomb of Abraham . . 359 



CHAPTER I. 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC AND GULF OF LEPANTO. 

Adelsberg Grotto : The finest in Europe— Arrival at Trieste — Its situation and 
Commerce — Prevalence of Cholera— Visit to Venice — Austrian Lloyd's — 
Steamer Elleno — Embarkation — Arrival at Ancona— Arch of Trajan— Cathe- 
dral— Calabrian Coast— Martello Towers— Brundusium — A Roman Depot — 
Ionian Isles— Corfu— Visit on shore — Albanian Coast — Storm on the Adriatic 
— Arrival at Patras — Modern town — Ancient Acropolis — Creek Revolution 
— St. Andrew's Cross— Return to steamer— New passengers— Albanian Cos- 
tume — Gulf of Lepanto— Productions and population of Greece — Arrival 
at Lutraki— Corinth in view. 

The finest cavern in Europe is the Grotto of 
Adelsberg, which, no traveller in Southern Ger- 
many should fail to see. Its vast and truly mag- 
nificent compartments, brilliantly illuminated for 
our special benefit, we had, in our morning visit, 
explored to the extent of a mile and a half. Its 
rushing river, natural bridge, fountains, waterfalls, 
vast compartments, with their stalactite and stalag- 
mite columns, natural drapery, and numberless cu- 
rious and remarkable natural formations, afforded 
interesting themes of review, in our afternoon ride, 
of six hours, to Trieste. 

The darkness of evening had gathered around us, 
before we reached the brow of the high lands, which 
overhang the head of the Adriatic, and from which 



VOYAGE I N THE ADRIATIC 



we looked down upon the city. The illuminated 
houses and streets presented to our view a beautiful 
appearance, as vre descended the steep and cir- 
cuitous road, on the mountain side, to the city. 

Our interesting tour through Germany terminated 
at Trieste, the principal seaport of Austria, and a 
place of known commercial importance. It has 
very few other attractions. Protected as it is, by 
the elevated country which rises abruptly on its 
north, I should infer that its winter climate must be 
warm and pleasant. "We were glad to see the 
stripes and stars flying at the masts of some of the 
shipping in the harbor. The town is pleasantly 
situated at the head of the Adriatic. The heter- 
ogeneous throng met in the streets, the market and 
the exchange — the Greek, the Turk, and the Arab 
from the coast of Africa, each clad in his own pe- 
culiar costume. — gives admonition that you are near 
the confines of the Orient. 

The prevalence of the cholera in Trieste, as well 
as in other European cities, had induced rigid quar- 
antine regulations in the Ionian Isles, and the ports 
of Greece. The regular intercourse by steam was 
thus interrupted, and for a short season an insu- 
perable barrier to our plans of travel seemed to be 
interposed. 

We improved this detention by an excursion to 
Venice, where a week was occupied most agreeably 



A X D GULF OF L E P A X T 



13 



amid its decaying palaces. There we met a party 
of two gentlemen, with their ladies, and a third, a 
physician with his sister, all from Philadelphia, who 
had the same object before them as ourselves, — a 
visit to Greece, Palestine, and Egypt. These, with 
Mrs. H. and our niece, composed our party as far as 
Athens. By concerted arrangements we all met at 
Trieste, where, to our great joy, our large party 
induced the Lloyd's Company to despatch us in one 
of their steamers, conditioned, that if we were com- 
pelled to perform a quarantine, it should be done 
upon the steamer. 

There is a daily line of steam packets between 
Trieste and Venice. The Austrian Lloyd's Com- 
pany run their steamers also to all the principal 
ports on the eastern part of the Mediterranean, 
With them we engaged our passage to Constanti- 
nople, as considerable expense is saved by taking- 
through tickets, which are good on any of the boats 
for ample time to allow one to visit all the inter- 
mediate places of interest. 

We embarked on the steamer Elleno, and left 
Trieste at four o'clock P. M., November 14th. The 
following day at noon, we reached Ancona, on the 
Italian side of the Gulf. This is a very ancient sea- 
port, and now the principal one on the Adriatic, of 
" the States of the Church" or pertaining to " Peter's 
patrimony" We found it occupied by Austrian 



14 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



troops, fit instruments to coerce tlie people into sub- 
mission to the despotic and hated rule of the Pope. 
Julius Caesar made a stand here after passing the 
Rubicon. At a later period Trajan improved the 
harbor by the construction of a mole at its en- 
trance. 

We landed and visited a beautiful triumphal arch, 
erected upon the mole in honor of Trajan, by his 
mother and sister. It is of the Corinthian order, 
neat and well proportioned, and in good preserva- 
tion. From the arch we went to the cathedral, on 
the high summit of the promontory, and the site 
of a heathen temple. The hills, or rather high 
ridge, which nearly encircle the harbor, form a kind 
of amphitheatre, on the sides of which the town is 
built, the lights of which, at night, as seen from our 
steamer, exhibited a very picturesque scene. At 
midnight we got up our steam, and proceeded on 
our voyage. 

On the 17th, we were off the Calabrian coast, and 
could see, with the aid of a glass, numerous vil- 
lages and cities. The houses appeared to be of A 
stone, whitewashed, and in the distance presented a 
cheerful appearance. At intervals we discovered a 
series of Martello or high round towers — the tele- 
graph stations of the middle ages. Signal fires 
were kindled upon them on the approach of an 
enemy, especially the dreaded Turk, and the intel- 



AND THE GULF OF LEPANTO. 



15 



ligence was thus quickly sent up the entire coast. 
At ten o'clock, A. M., we reached Brundise, the 
ancient Brundusrum, on the very heel of the Italian 
peninsula, the great thoroughfare of the Bomans in 
their intercourse with the East. Their large fleet 
was usually stationed here. It was very advanta- 
geously situated for a nayal depot, and the trans- 
portation of troops. It now has a castle, but is a 
place of very little importance. We did not land, 
and soon proceeded on our yoyage to Corfu, which 
we reached at an early hour on the following, or 
Sabbath morning. 

Corfu is one of the most important of the Ionian 
Islands. It is the residence of the English govern- 
or, or Lord High Commissioner. Its high and com- 
manding citadel is garrisoned by English troops. 
The rugged Albanian coast is not more than one or 
two miles distant. The Ionian Isles came under 
the British sway in 1814; since which period, they 
have exercised a protectorate oyer them. We went 
on shore, hoping to be able to attend the English 
service, in the chapel of the citadel, but found it 
commenced at too late an hour to admit our stay. 
No one would ever conjecture it had been the Sab- 
bath, from the scenes of business and bustle seen in 
the narrow and crooked streets of the town. We 
visited two of the Greek churches in which the 
mummeries of their worship were in progress. 



16 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



The Venetians formerly held the Ionian Islands. 
The lion of St. Mark still keeps his place at some 
of the portals of the town. Keturning to the steam- 
er, we got under way in the afternoon, and proceed- 
od on our voyage to Patras. As we left the harbor 
we saw up one of the inlets a little island having a 
striking resemblance to a sail-boat — the celebrated 
"Sail of Ulysses." The Greek coast is destitute of 
light-houses, which in the storm that now overtook 
us, increased the perils of the night, in the darkness 
of which, we thought of the apostle Paul, as he 
was " driven up and down in Adria," (Acts 27 : 27,) 
in one of these same Sirocco tempests, that beat 
upon our bark, more favored with steam power to 
contend with it. 

At ten o'clock, A. M., our steamer anchored be- 
fore Patras. We landed in our small boat to visit 
the town and its ancient Acropolis. This modern 
town has come into existence since the Greek revo- 
lution, and is a place of some commerce. The 
streets have been laid out wide, and regularly at 
right angles to each other. They are not, however, 
graded or paved, and we found them extremely 
muddy. The region being subject to earthquakes, 
the houses are low. The population is said to be 
7,000. There is quite a number of stores and 
manufacturing shops, which, miserable as is the 
place, impart to it some appearance of thrift. 



AND GULF OF LEPANT.O. 17 

They claim for Patras the honor of striking the 
first blow in the revolution which emancipated 
Greece from the sway of the Turk ; the banner of 
the cross and of freedom, having been raised by 
Germanos, its Archbishop, on the 2d day of April, 
1821. 

Passing through the town we reached the Acrop- 
olis, in its rear. It is still surrounded with walls, 
the greater part of which are of modern date, and 
now somewhat dilapidated. The elevated and fa- 
vorable position of this fortress made it quite a 
stronghold for the Turks, during much of the 
war. A temple of Diana once stood within its 
enclosure. 

The town stands on a narrow plain, which ex- 
tends for several miles along the bay. We were 
informed that large quantities of the small black 
grape usually designated in commerce, as " Zante 
currants," are here produced. The vines we saw, 
much resembled the ordinary French grape-vine in 
their appearance. After our descent from the 
Acropolis, some of our party repaired to the small 
church of St. Andrew, situated near the sea-shore, 
to the north-west of the town. Here is shown a 
fountain or spring of water, and a vault, supposed 
by the Greeks to have once contained the remains 
of the apostle Andrew, from which his relics were 
subsequently removed to Constantinople. Accord- 



18 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



ing to tradition, he here suffered martyrdom by 
crucifixion. 

The Greek cross which is nearly in the form of 
an X, is called St. Andrew's cross, from the circum- 
stance that he is said to have suffered upon one of 
this shape. It is the universal badge of the Greek 
churches, which, in the form of their structure, are 
made somewhat to resemble it. This spot was once 
sacred to Ceres, as the patron deity of Patras, and 
by an easy transition the honors of the goddess 
have been turned over to the apostle. I think this 
tradition respecting the martyrdom of Andrew is 
entitled to some respect : it has a high antiquity, al- 
though accounts are contradictory. 

Thus far on our voyage from Trieste, our party 
had been the sole passengers for most of the dis- 
tance ; but now we found, on returning on board, 
the deck of our steamer was thickly covered with 
a motley multitude ; chiefly, however, Albanians, 
in their peculiar costume. That of the better class 
of men is gay and expensive, and may be deemed 
splendid ; at any rate the Greeks seem very partial, 
if not proud of it. A skirt of white cotton cloth 
reaching down to the calf of the leg, is its most re- 
markable feature. We shall be supposed to be 
dealing in the fabulous, if we tell the number 
of yards of cloth required to make one — thirty 
yards was named to us, cut into four hundred gores, 



A GREEK IN ALBANIAN COSTUME. 



AND GULF OF LEPAN T O . 



19 



and thickly plaited. The shirt has a wide collar, 
turned flatly down on the jacket, which is made of 
cloth, richly embroidered. It is a round-about, 
with sleeve open or slitted on the inside from the 
arm-pit to the elbow. Gaiters reaching to the knee 
of red, blue, or other gay-colored cloth, richly em- 
broidered, and slippers, a red felting cap with heavy 
blue silk tassel, completes the description as far as I 
noted it down at J:he time. At Athens we subse- 
quently and often saw King Otho in this costume. 

Many of our passengers were poorly clad, and 
looked as if they had spent their days in savage 
warfare. Their long bondage under the Turks, and 
final sanguinary struggle with them for freedom, 
has left an impression of ferocity on the Greek char- 
acter, more particularly the peasantry, which will 
require long years to efface. In fact, our contact 
with them has left no very happy impression of 
their moral qualities. 

Before one o'clock, P. M., we had got under way, 
and soon reached the entrance of the Gulf of Le- 
panto. On each side of this narrow passage a some- 
what formidable fortress projects into the water. I 
estimated the distance between the forts to be one 
mile. This immediate region was the theatre of a 
memorable sea-fight in October 1571, between the 
combined Christian fleet and that of the Turks. It 
resulted in the capture or destruction of the entire 



20 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



Ottoman force, and was one of the early signals of 
the triumph of the cross over the crescent, at that 
period so portentous to Europe. At three P. M., we 
reached the little town of Lepanto, situated on the 
northern side of the Gulf. It stands on the steep 
slope of a naked hill, the walls running up from 
the water, forming nearly a triangle, with two cross 
walls parallel with the water, making three com- 
partments. With the aid of my glass I noticed 
some old fluted columns in the west part of the 
town. It has a small artificial harbor. It is, how- 
ever, a place of little importance. The rugged hills 
press down upon the Gulf on either side, generally 
to appearance naked, rocky and barren. This re- 
gion, however, as well as the Ionian Isles, produces 
large quantities of the small grape, before referred 
to, as known under the name of Zante or black cur- 
rants. They form one of the chief articles of ex- 
port of the Greeks. Olive-oil is produced in con- 
siderable quantities, and some wine for domestic 
use, as only a Greek would drink their wine, it is 
so strongly impregnated with rosin. Agricul- 
ture is conducted by them on the same rude prin- 
ciples that it was three thousand years ago. While 
travelling in the country we saw them using the 
same plow that Hesiod describes in his time — a 
rude stick tipped with iron. The government of 
Otho we were informed had made attempts to in- 



AND THE GULF OF L E P A N T O . 



21 



troduce the improved implements and modes of 
husbandry of Europe, but with little success. They 
succeed much better in commerce than in agricul- 
ture. I learned that the population of Greece, in- 
cluding the Islands, in 1840, was 826,470, occupy- 
ing 12,000,000 acres of land, or about 14,000 square 
miles of territory. From various causes I judge 
the increase of population is slow, and there is no 
earthly inducement for the excessive population of 
Europe to emigrate here. The natural jealousy of 
the Greeks would be an insuperable obstacle, and 
the country, as far as it came under my observation, 
is wretched in the extreme. In the Morea I under- 
stand there are fine lands, and at the north, in an- 
cient Macedonia, there are better lands and a better 
race of Greeks. 

At six o'clock, P. M., we reached Vostizza on the 
south side of the Gulf. This is the site of the an- 
cient iEgium. Our boat anchored for some six 
hours, but I did not land. We then proceeded to 
Lutracki, where we reached our anchorage at six 
o'clock, A. M., the end of our voyage in the Elleno, 
concerning whose seaworthiness we had experienced 
some fears during our tempestuous passage from 
Trieste. This depot of the Austrian Lloyd's steam- 
er is situated at the head of the Gulf of Corinth. 
The Company have here a small building for a 



22 



VOYAGE IN THE ADRIATIC 



store-house. There are also a few miserable huts in 
the vicinity occupied by Greeks. 

Corinth lies directly across the bay, in the south, 
in full view. Its Acropolis, a massive and rocky 
eminence, rises most abruptly 1,800 feet high, and 
appears much nearer to us than it is in reality, as it 
is three or four miles back from the bay, and the 
whole distance from our anchorage is eight miles or 
more. With the aid of my glass we had a good 
view of the general outlines of its commanding 
situation. 

" The whirlwind's wrath, the earthquake's shock, 
Have left untouched her hoary rock. 
The keystone of a land, which still, 
Though, fall'n, looks proudly on that hill ; 
The landmark to the double tide 
That purpling rolls on either side, 
As if their waters chafed to meet, 
Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet." 

Our captain, a rare specimen of ill-nature and in- 
temperance, is determined that we shall enjoy no 
nearer view of those scenes classic and sacred, as we 
are to be hurried across the Isthmus to Calamaki on 
its eastern side, there to take another steamer to 
Athens. In the immediate vicinity of our anchor- 
age on the shore there are some very hot springs, 
gushing from the base of the overhanging mountain 
directly into the bay. From the great use made of 
such springs by the Romans, wherever found in 



AND THE GULF OF LEPAXTO 



23 



their extended conquests, I have little doubt that 
these waters were much resorted to in Apostolic 
days, and it was a reasonable conjecture that when 
we repaired to them we were treading on ground 
oyer which Paul and his companions had perhaps 
frequently walked during " the year and six months 
he continued teaching the word of Grod*' to the Cor- 
inthians. (Acts, 18 : 11.) 



CHAPTER II. 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Isthmus of Corinth — Cross to CalamaM — "New Wine in New Bottles" — Speci- 
men of Grecian Life — Return to " Elleno"— Sight of Parnassus — Ancient Port 
of Cenchrea— A Dilemma — Early Walk to Corinth— Its Acropolis— Luxury 
— Retributions of ProYidence— Destruction by L. Mummius— Paul at Cor- 
inth — Moral Power of the Gospel — Magnificent Situation of Corinth — Un- 
healthy—Parnassus in View — Ruin of Temple of MinerYa — A Poor Break- 
fast — Ride to Saronic Gulf— Ancient Debris — Temple of Neptune— Canal 
of Nero — Passage to Piraeus — Salamis— Arrival at Athens. 

At ten o'clock, A. M., we left the steamer, and in 
carriages provided for us, proceeded over the Isth- 
mus of Corinth to Calamaki, the present seaport on 
its eastern side. The steamer from Athens, or rather 
the Piraeus, had not arrived when we reached there, 
and we occupied some hours in climbing the high 
ridges of the Isthmus in the vicinity, and in explora- 
tions among the shops and hovels of the village, 
where, for the first time, we saw a practical illustra- 
tion of Matt. 9 : 17- — " Neither do men put new 
wine into old bottles ; else the bottles break, and 
the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish/' Their 
wine and oil, as well as other liquids, are put into the 
skins of the black goat. 

Here too we had a specimen of Greek life : the 
common people, like most Eastern nations, never 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



25 



undress at night, and like the Arabs sleep on the 
ground, or floor of the dwelling, if it have any. 
We noticed in some of the houses here an improve- 
ment which may have been specially designed for 
the numerous travellers who are occasionally de- 
tained : it was a kind of elevated scaffold on which 
the inmates sleep. 

The Austrian Lloyd's Company have here quite 
an imposing depot. The saloon is large, but for 
those who require a bed to sleep on, they have no 
accommodations for the night. The steamer from 
Athens not appearing, we were compelled to re-cross 
the Isthmus in the afternoon, to spend another night 
on the " Elleno." On our return ride we enjoyed a 
fine view of Parnassas, now (Nov. 22d) covered 
Yvith snow. 

The small ancient port of Cenchrea, from which 
Paul embarked in company " with Priscilla and 
Aquila" on his return into Syria, is situated at the 
head of the Saronic Gulf, near its southern side, 
some three miles distant from Oalamaki, and seven 
or eight east of Corinth. Whether it was Paul or 
Aquila who there shaved his head, "for he had a 
vow," (Acts, 18: 18,) critics are not agreed, and no 
great harm will result in consequence of a diversity 
of opinion in this regard. 

Arrived at the " Elleno," and again tantalized with 
the sight of Corinth, which now more than ever we 



26 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS, 



were anxious to visit, we opened a negotiation with, 
our captain, for him to designate some hour on the 
morrow for our departure from Calamaki, which 
would admit the gentlemen of our party who 
wished it, to visit Corinth, and from thence proceed 
across the Isthmus and meet the steamer in due- 
time, but all to no avail : the surly man seemed a 
stranger to every feeling of accommodation, or of 
sympathy with those who desired to look on the 
objects of antiquity. In every other instance in our 
long travels in the Levant, we found the officers of 
the steamers exceedingly polite and obliging. 

In this dilemma, late at night, three of us resolved 
to rise at an early hour in the morning, and hazard 
the experiment of walking to Corinth — a toil and 
risk I should not like again to take. Cautioning 
the ladies to be in no haste in rising, or in making 
their preparations to leave the steamer, I left them 
to re-cross the Isthmus, in the care of my courier, 
and at five o'clock. A. M. 3 we set off on our enter- 
prise. Proceeding to one of the hovels on shore, 
we engaged a young Greek as a guide, and pursued 
our way round the head of the bay. 

This part of the route was sandy and level, and 
much of the entire distance was rough and tedious 
— the last mile or more a toilsome ascent, in accom- 
plishing which it was my misfortune to be burthened 
with heavv boots. A walk of three and a half hours 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



27 



brought us, at half-past eight o'clock, to the foot of 
the Acro-Corinthus, upon the elevated plat or table- 
land where once rose and flourished Corinth — the 
eye of Greece, pre-eminently beautiful and com- 
manding in its position, distinguished for its learn- 
ing, wealth and luxury ; an early centre of com- 
merce and the arts, but dissolute, even to a proverb. 
Venus was the chief goddess of the city, and courte- 
zans her priestesses. A retributive Providence 
early humbled her pride, and laid her glory in the 
dust. Rome, envying her political and commercial 
advantages, regarded her with jealousy equalled 
only by that she cherished toward Carthage, and 
ere long found a pretext to send her legions, who, 
under Mummius, with fire and sword laid her in 
ruins, transporting her choicest sculpture to Rome, 
B. C. 146. Subsequently, Julius Caesar repaired her 
desolations, and she regained much of her former 
importance, as well as licentious character, under 
the Eoman sway. But her glory and her shame 
have long since departed. 

The apostle Paul came here from Athens, about 
A. D. 52, where he found Aquila and his wife Pris- 
cilla, and remained " a year and six months" preach- 
ing with eminent success. It was truly one of the 
distinguishing glories of the gospel, that among 
such a people it should achieve its brightest tri- 
umphs ; evincing to all succeeding ages that the 



28 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



"preaching of Christ crucified" is the only recu- 
perative influence that can reach man's deep ruin. 
All the efforts of the sages of Greece to reclaim 
mankind had been tested and failed — the mournful 
verdict was reached, "the world by wisdom knew 
not G-od and that is the brightest page in the his- 
tory of Corinth, that inspiration has left on record 
in its oracles, such a testimony as that we find, Acts, 
18 : 10, " I have much people in this city." It was 
during this residence in Corinth that Paul wrote his 
two epistles to the Thessalonians. 1 Thess. 3 : 6. 

But we must return to our narrative. Arrived 
at Corinth, we felt that the toils we had undergone 
to reach it were amply compensated. The situation 
is certainly magnificent. The plain and bay below, 
and country around, present to the eye a landscape 
of rare beauty. In the north, and westward, the 
Gulf of Corinth is seen for many miles. Par- 
nassus, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, rises all 
unveiled beyond. The Saronic Gulf is not here 
seen, as the high ground on the eastern side of the 
Isthmus, which borders it, intercepts the view, ex- 
cept upon the Acropolis, to which we had not time 
or strength to repair. The panoramic view from 
its summit is said to be very splendid — probably 
the most interesting in Greece. From it the Acrop- 
olis of Athens, at the distance of forty miles, may 
be distinctly seen. 



CORINTH A N D ITS MONUMENTS. 



29 



The site of Corinth, is uneven, the western portion 
particularly, having a rapid descent northward 
toward the distant bay. It is abundantly watered 
by springs from the base of the Acropolis. Since 
the Greek revolution, quite a town has sprung up 
here, but the location is very unhealthy. This cir- 
cumstance, if no other, precluded it from becoming 
the capital of the new kingdom, under Otho. Why 
it should be so unhealthy here I could not easily 
account, as the situation is high, and well drained. 
The malaria of the plain is doubtless the source of 
the evil. There are many ruined and desolate walls 
of dwellings destroyed in the devastating war of 
the revolution still standing. We examined a 
number of places of historic interest which are 
pointed out to the traveller. One monument alone 
of her early grandeur and her Paganism, has sur- 
vived the vicissitudes of a hundred generations of 
human beings, who have lived and disappeared 
from its view — the Temple of Minerva Chalamatis. 
Seven majestic Doric columns of this ancient edifice 
remain in their original position — five of these be- 
longed to one of its fronts, and three to one of 
its sides, counting the column at the angle twice. 
Of these, three on the side, and two adjoining on 
the front, still support their entablature ; the archi- 
trave of both the others is gone. They are lime- 
stone monoliths, near six feet in diameter at their 



30 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



base, heavy, and ill-proportioned. This temple is 
supposed to have been erected B. C. 700, y/hich may 
well account for its architectural defects. It stands 
in close proximity to the present village. 

As I stood and examined this relic of antiquity, 
my thoughts instinctively ran back 1,800 years, to 
that period when the great Apostle to the Gentiles 
trod over this ground, and his keen eye rested upon 
this very temple ; even then hoary in its antiquity. 
His ardent spirit was here doubtless often " stirred 
within him" as he witnessed the degrading vices and 
idolatries of the Corinthians ; and I searched around 
to find some memento to bear away. A leaf of the 
nettle and the mallow for our herbarium, was all I 
could obtain ! 

After procuring a breakfast, the most substantial 
part of which was boiled eggs, we chartered a rude 
wagon to convey us with all haste to Calamaki. 
We spread on the bottom of our springless vehicle 
one of those huge and hooded Greek overcoats (a la 
capuchin) which, glad as we were to be able to pro- 
cure even that, was no enviable seat for weary trav- 
ellers to occupy for a rough ride of eight or ten 
miles. About half a mile east of the village, we 
stopped for a walk of some distance over the plain, 
northward, where is seen on the terrace below, the 
obvious site of an amphitheatre. Further on, we 
passed the massive foundations of some ancient 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 31 

structures. Brick, pottery, and other debris is 
thickly scattered for miles over the extended plain. 
At the distance of five or six miles from Corinth we 
passed the buildings occupied by the Greek colony, 
founded by Dr. Howe, of Boston, subsequent to the 
Greek revolution. A mile farther, we reached the 
high ground overlooking the Saronic Gulf, and 
were relieved from our anxieties, by seeing the 
steamer from the Piraeus some miles distant in the 
bay, approaching her anchorage. Leaving " Cen- 
chrea" on our right, a mile or more distant, our 
road now turned northward in a direction nearly 
parallel with the head of the bay. The whole Isth- 
mus was sacred too, and just below us once stood 
the celebrated temple of Neptune. As we descend- 
ed the hill toward Calamaki, we passed its massive 
foundations on our left, and near by we saw part of 
a large Doric column, which once pertained to it. 
It was on one side of this temple that the statues of 
the victors in the Isthmian games were placed. The 
site of the ancient stadium in which these games 
were celebrated, is very obvious in the depression 
a short distance further north-west. Near at hand 
are traces of the Isthmian wall, and also of a canal 
commenced by Nero, but never much advanced, by 
means of which he designed to connect the two 
Gulfs. 

We reached the village before the steamer did 



32 



CORINTH AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



her anchorage, or even our friends from the " El- 
leno" had arrived. At 1 o'clock, P. M., we went 
on board the Baron Kebeck, and we were soon 
under way for the Piraeus. The darkness of even- 
ing began to gather around us ere we passed Sala- 
mis, and over the waters which beat upon its shores, 
where, on the 20th of October, 480 years B. C, the 
vast fleet of Xerxes was taken or destroyed by the 
Greeks under Themistocles. This naval battle, 
under Providence so pregnant in its consequences 
on the destiny of the world, was fought under the 
eye of that proud monarch, standing on an adjacent 
hill. Its fatal termination to the Persians, sent him, 
a dismayed fugitive, back to Asia. 

Early in the evening our steamer reached her 
destination, where we landed, and took carriages 
for a ride of five miles to Athens. It was Saturday 
night, and we were rejoiced with the prospect of a 
Sabbath on shore, and the enjoyment of public wor- 
ship among our American friends located on this 
missionary field. 



CHAPTER III. 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Advantages and Pleasures of Travel — Magnified difficulties — Comparatively few- 
Americans in the East — Sabbath Privileges— Rev. Dr. Hill, Chaplain of 
the English Embassy — Rev. Dr. King — Kind attentions received — Sabbath 
Desecrations in Athens — Bazaars thronged — Otho and his Court — The Pal- 
ace—Population—Paul's second Missionary tour: his arrival at Athens: 
his visit in the Market Place — Survey of Monuments — Various Tastes of 
Travellers— Paul on Mars Hill— Ancient Altars to the Unknown God — Walk 
to Mars Hill. 

Greece and Palestine are sources of so much in- 
tellectual pleasure to the visitor, that it is an enig- 
ma that comparatively so few of the large number 
of our intelligent countrymen who visit Europe, 
should embrace those scenes classic and sacred in 
the plan of their travels. And more especially, if 
the tourist be a theologian or professional man trav- 
elling, as the late Dr. D wight facetiously remarked, 
"with his eyes open " 

"We have felt the swelling emotions of national 
pride rising in our bosom on meeting our citizens 
in such numbers in Italy, and most of the large 
cities of the Continent ; while, at the same time, we 
have contemplated with surprise the fact that so 
many of these travellers, men of learning and piety, 
can linger for months in some of the inconsiderable 

2* 



34 



ATHENS A N D ITS M N UMENTS, 



cities of Italy, and regard with a sluggard's indif- 
ference, a visit among the sacred scenes of Palestine 
or the historic regions of Greece. Florence is one 
of those places which seem to hold many a voyager 
spell-bound for a time ample to exhaust all its rich 
attractions; and for a visit from it to Athens beside. 
TTe must infer for manj of them, that they have 
magnified the difficulties and dangers to be encoun- 
tered, as well as the time required for the tour ; or 
that they have not taken the trouble to inform 
themselves respecting the number of interesting 
monuments of antiquity which, in various states of 
preservation, have in Greece survived the vicissi- 
tudes of ages — the sight of which so richly compen- 
sates for all the time and efforts required for the 
visit. 

The fatigues of our tramp to Corinth recoiled 
upon me with so much severity, that I found my- 
self, on Sabbath morning, entirely unfitted to enjoy 
the hoped-for privileges of the public religious ser- 
vice, held in the morning, in the chapel of the Eng- 
lish Embassy, of which the Rev. J. Hill, D. D., of 
the American Episcopal Mission, is the chaplain. 
Mrs. Hill kindly called upon the ladies, and con- 
ducted them to the service. The pleasure of our 
visit was much enhanced by subsequent and unre- 
mitted attentions. We visited with very great 
pleasure the interesting school of Mrs. Hill. Every 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



35 



American who makes the acquaintance of Mr. Hill, 
knows that he is aufait in all that relates to the an- 
tiquities of Athens. 

To Dr. King and the Eev. Mr. Lowndes we were 
alike indebted for their kind hospitalities. Our 
worthy missionary, Dr. King, was under the ban of 
the Government, and had no public teaching, but 
gave instruction in his own house to such as came 
to him. Athens thus far has been a peculiarly un- 
promising field for missionary labors. It must not, 
however, be abandoned. A brighter day is yet to 
dawn there. The Eev. Isaac Lowndes, the excel- 
lent agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society 
in the Levant, was residing at the time in Athens ; 
and on Sabbath evenings read and expounded the 
ScrijDtures, with prayer, in the house of Dr. King — 
a service which we found much pleasure in attend- 
ing. 

The Sabbath here is desecrated even more than 
in Paris. It is by far the most busy and exciting 
day of the week. The shops in the Bazar are all 
open; the streets and market-place thronged with 
citizens and country-people, who improve the day 
to visit the town. The King and Queen, with her 
maids of honor, and a retinue of gentlemen and 
officers of the Court, were out on horseback for a 
ride in the afternoon of the Sabbath-days we spent 
in Athens ; and that is their usual custom. Thev 



3G 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



passed our hotel at four, P. M., to review the troops 
on the public grounds, a short distance north of us, 
where a large concourse of people were gathered to 
witness the pageant, and listen to the martial music. 
Athens became the seat of Government in 1834, 
and is now the residence of Otho and his little court, 
the pageant of which is here maintained. The 
" Court End," or north-easterly part of the city, 
has much of a European aspect. The palace is 
quite an imposing building, and well furnished. It 
has some good portraits of Greek revolutionary 
heroes, and the walls of the apartments are orna- 
mented with frescoes, by artists from Munich. The 
population has reached about twenty-five thousand. 
The Greek churches are generally small and low 
Byzantine structures. 

It was in Paul's second missionary tour through 
Asia Minor and regions adjacent, that, in his pro- 
gress north and westward, he reached Alexandria — - 
" Troas" This place was situated on the Phrygian 
side of the iEgean, not far from the site of ancient 
Troy. Mount Ida lies on its north, in full view, a 
few miles distant. To this city, the name of which 
indicates its proximity to the site of ancient Troy, 
or the country of the Trojans, he seems to have 
been impelled by a special divine influence : " Af- 
ter they were come to Mysia, they essayed to go 
into Bithynia; but the spirit suffered them not 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



37 



And they passing by Mysia, came down to Troas." 
(Acts, 16 : 7, 8.) Here, with the naked eye, he 
could look over into the fertile regions of Europe, 
which border the Hellespont ; and to this point we 
are drawn in our search for the interesting fact of 
the first introduction of the gospel into Europe. " A 
vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood 
a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come 
over into Macedonia and help us" — giving to Paul 
and his companions the assurance " that the Lord had 
called them to preach the gospel unto them." Phi- 
lippi was the scene of their first efforts— their tem- 
porary imprisonment, and the remarkable conver- 
sion of the jailer. Leaving this city, they pursue 
their way westward and southerly unto Thessalon- 
ica, where we have a brief and instructive account 
of the manner of the Apostle's preaching. " He 
reasoned with them out of the Scriptures" — (Acts, 
17 : 3.) Virtually expelled as they were from here, 
we have reason to believe, from Paul's two Epistles 
to them, written shortly after from Corinth, that 
the preaching of the gospel was happily attended 
with saving benefit to many. His next brief and 
cheering stay was with the noble-hearted, Scripture- 
searching Bereans, from which place his friends 
conducted him to Athens — the focal seat of learning 
and philosophy of Greece. From what we know 
of Paul as a man of letters, we cannot doubt that 



38 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



lie entered Athens, and surveyed her historic 
scenery and famed monuments of art with peculiar 
interest. 

The Parthenon and Erectheum, the Propylaea 
and Theseium, although they had been the boast of 
Athens for five hundred years, were then standing 
conspicuous among her temples and monuments of 
architectural skill, in all their pristine glory. 

Her porticoes, her market-places, avenues and 
temples, were filled with sculptured heroes and 
deities ; so that it had been satirically said of her, 
that "it was easier to find a god than a man." 
Pausanias, who visited Athens a few years later, 
savs that it had more images than all the rest of 
Greece. 

Such was Athens when the Apostle entered her 
market-places, and disputed daily with the various 
sects of philosophers, whose time was there occu- 
pied in the fruitless inquiry for some new thing. 

All but eighteen hundred years had elapsed, and 
we were standing on the same ground. But how 
changed the scene ! The wasting hand of time, * 
and the desolating arm of war, have crumbled in 
the dust much in which she then gloried. Enough, 
however, remains, to awaken the deepest interest in 
the mind of the beholder. 

Various, indeed, are the predominating emotions 
which may be supposed to agitate the bosom of the 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 39 

voyager, as lie treads upon the soil of Athens. 
The admirers of fine specimens of architectural 
skill will wish, first of all, to climb to the summit 
of the Acropolis, there to examine the unequalled 
symmetrical proportions of the Parthenon — still 
beautiful in its ruins, and of which we purpose to 
say more hereafter. The enthusiast in classic lore, 
will search out those spots on which its great mas- 
ters here enriched its stores. Another class will 
direct their steps to the Pnyx, to mount its ancient 
stone Bema, from which, with the sky for a canopy, 
the orators of Athens delivered their impassioned 
harangues to the democratic population ; and where, 
too, the great questions of war or peace were agita* 
ted and determined in their popular assemblies — 
that very Bema, or pulpit, from which Demosthenes 
exerted his powers of eloquence, to re-inspire cour- 
age and patriotism in his countrymen. 

The votaries of poetry and the drama may search 
for the Odeum, or the theatres where the produc- 
tions of Simonides and Sophocles were introduced 
to the world. The moralist, for the prison where 
Socrates is said to have been confined ; or the 
Academy where Plato taught the lessons he had 
learned from his great master ; or that favorite 
resort for philosophical study and conversation — 
the Lyceum — in the groves of which Aristotle and 
his disciples were wont to ramble. 



40 ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

With, no feelings of indifference to these, the 
Christian will desire to place his feet on the top of 
Mars Hill, where, in the open air, the highest court 
of Athens held its sessions — -the spot to which, the 
Apostle Paul was conducted, to vindicate before its 
tribunals " the strange doctrines of Jesus and the Res- 
urrection" which he had preached in the ears of 
the Athenians ; and where he delivered that noble 
vindication of the gospel recorded in Acts xvi. To 
appreciate the wisdom, learning and eloquence of 
this unique address fully, it must be read on the 
ground of its utterance, with its bright landscape in 
your eye, and several of those very " temples mode 
% wiih hands" before you, to which the finger of the 
Apostle was doubtless pointed when he announced 
to his learned and cavilling auditors, u Ye men of 
Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too 
superstitious. For, as I passed by, and beheld your 
devotions, I found an altar with this inscription 
—TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom there- 
fore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto 
you," &c. 

Col. Leake has the following extract from Pau- 
sanias: " The Athenians have another port, called 
Munychia, where is a temple of Diana Munychia. 
There is a third harbor at Phaleruin, where is a 
sanctuary of Ceres, &c. Here are likewise altars 
sacred to the gods, called the Unknown." He 



ATHENS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



41 



adds, " It was upon the occasion of a plague in the 
40th Olympiad that the Athenians were advised 
by Epimenides to propitiate the Unknown Deities, 
lest some of them should be offended by omission. 
Diogenes Laertius says that Epimenides himself 
came to Athens to establish this worship, and that 
he sacrificed upon the Areopagus. It is probable, 
therefore, that an altar to the Unknown God con- 
tinued to stand upon the Areopagus, from that 
time until it became the occasion of Paul's ad- 
dress to the Athenians." 

It was late in the afternoon, when we took our 
Bibles in our hands, and walked to Mars Hill, there 
to read this very address, 



CHAPTER IV. 



ACEOPOLIS OF ATHENS AND Y^IT TO MAES HILL. 

Visit to Mars Hill — Tower of the Winds— Its Structure and Design — The Use of 
Water Clocks— The Acropolis— The Distinctive Feature of Athens — Im- 
pregnable to the Early Modes of Warfare — Its Extent — Its Ancient Walls- 
Adorned by Themistocies, Cimon, and Pericles — Its Temples— Bazars of 
Oriental Cities like the Ancient Agoras, or Markets of the Greeks— Rela- 
tion of Mars Hill to the Acropolis— Ancient Stone Steps to the Areopagus 
—Socrates there Tried — Seals of Judges— Court Held in the Open Air — 
—Reading of Acts xvii. — The same Temples in View that Paul had in his 
Eye — The Propylaea — The Parthenon — The Erectheum — Sacred Olive— 
Temple of Theseus— Legend from Plutarch— Its Reproduction by the Ca- 
tholic Church, in various forms — I/egend from Michaud's History of 
the Crusades. 

We found good accommodations in the Hotel 
d'Angleterre, which, is situated upon the Eue de 
Minerva, half a mile or more north of the Acrop- 
olis. This is the principal business street of the 
modern town, and intersecting the Bazar, it runs 
north, from the central part of the north side of the 
Acropolis. "We have remarked that our first visit 
to Mars Hill, or the Areopagus, was on Sabbath 
evening. We should be glad, had we the power 
for such achievements, to gather up a picture of the 
scene, so as to convey to our readers a graphic im- 
pression of its local relations, that thus we might 
virtually together stand on that interesting spot, 
and read Paul's masterly address. We are com- 



/ 



\ 



plan 

A 7 IB 2 VI 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS. 



48 



pelled, however, merely to crave indulgence while 
we now refer to some of our itinerancy during our 
interesting visit in Athens. In the walk referred 
to, after passing the bazars, and before we reached 
the rapidly rising ground, which forms the base of 
the Acropolis, we came unexpectedly upon a re- 
markable ancient structure, called " the Tower of 
the Winds," or the Horologium of Andronicus. We 
did not then stop particularly to examine it ; but 
in subsequent explorations we had frequent oppor- 
tunities to do so. It is an octagonal tower, situated 
at about the centre of the Acropolis, and under its 
northern side. It was erected B. C. 150, by Andron- 
icus Cyrrhestes, to indicate the quarter from which 
the wind blew, and the hour of the day, by the 
sun, when the weather was clear; and by water 
when it was cloudy. The water-clock within the 
Tower was supplied by the little rill which rises un- 
der the Cave of Pan, at the north-west end of the 
Acropolis. On each of the eight angles of the 
Tower is sculptured a large- winged symbolic figure, 
in bas-relief. On the north, Boreas, thickly mantled, 
blows his twisted cone, &c. Although in ruins, it 
is a very interesting monument. Water-clocks 
were an early device, and are said to have been 
erected to regulate the time of speaking of the 
orators. If for that end they would secure, in 
these modern days, more definite and salutary re- 



44 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 



suits than the clocks now in use, it might be well 
to have them erected in the vicinity of all of our 
public deliberative bodies. 

The Acropolis is the most distinctive feature of 
Athens, and from its relations, with its temples, to 
the Areopagus, is frequently referred to in history. 
From the earliest times it has been its citadel. In 
early Greek history, which doubtless has a large 
admixture of mythologic fiction, it is said to have 
received from Cecrops the name of a Cecropidao," and 
afterwards " Athenae," by Erechthinus, from its 
being under the protection of Minerva, or Athena. 
This was designated the upper city, and the settle- 
ment at its base and around it, the lower city. 
Themistocles, Cimon, and Pericles, seem to have 
been the principal projectors of its ancient splendor. 
Its natural formation rendered it all but impreg- 
nable to the early modes of warfare. It is a rocky 
eminence, oblong in its shape, extending from 
east to west. At its summit it is 1,500 feet 
long, and about 500 feet wide; at its greatest 
breadth, at its base, it spreads over a wider ex- 
tent. It rises abruptly to the height of 150 to 
200 feet above the plain. On all its sides it is pre- 
cipitous, except on the west, where is its only place 
of access. This entrance was fortified and adorned 
by Pericles with the splendid Propylaea of Pentelic 
marble, as it was not until after the invasion of 



AND VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



45 



Xerxes, and the destruction of the city by him, that 
a stone wall was constructed around the summit, on 
the edge of the perpendicular rock. This wall 
makes a circuit of 2,400 yards. The lower stones, 
as now seen, are of undoubted antiquity, and are 
attributed to Cimon and Themistocles. The more 
recent part of the present wall is the work of the 
Venetians and Turks, as they successively had 
Athens in their possession. In the brilliant period 
of Athenian history, besides the two prominent 
temples — the Parthenon and Erectheum, and the 
colossal Minerva said to have been of bronze, 70 
feet high, the work of Phidias, and standing on a 
high pedestal, so that it could be seen by vessels 
approaching the coast — we learn from Pausanias 
and others, that this area was filled with statues, 
altars and sculpture. This colossus was the Minerva 
Promachus — the champion of Athens. 

The Tower of the Winds, which we have de- 
scribed, was in the immediate vicinity, if not at the 
centre of the Agora, or market-place of the Eoman 
period, where Paul disputed with the philosophers 
of Athens, who there met him. 

The Bazars of Oriental cities of the present day, 
are doubtless much like the early Agoras of the 
Greeks. After leaving this tower, we turned west- 
ward, and, proceeding up and along the base of the 
Acropolis, we soon reached its north-western ex- 



46 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 



treniity. We had now ascended some 75 to 100 
feet above the northern plain. Here a small and 
elevated valley separated the Acropolis from the 
Areopagus, or Mars Hill. I estimated the distance 
of the latter to he 850 feet from the Propylsea, 
and 50 below it. We now had before us that 
spot, of all others the most interesting to the Chris- 
tian, on which he can tread in Athens. It is a lime- 
rock elevation ; the northern and eastern sides 
fronting the Acropolis are precipitous ; a large mass 
or block on the north side has been detached by 
some convulsion of nature, and has fallen over 
below ; on the west and south-west it slopes down 
rapidly a considerable distance toward the Pnyx, 
while on the south-west there is cut in the limestone 
rock an artificial ascent of sixteen rude steps, which 
formed its access from the Agora below to the spot 
where, in ancient times, the highest tribunal in 
Athens held its sessions. It was here that Socrates 
was tried and condemned. We crossed the narrow 
valley, and ascended those very steps up which the 
Apostle was doubtless conducted; when he was 
summoned to appear before the Areopagus for 
" preaching Jesus and the resurrection," in opposi- 
tion to the prevailing idolatries of the times. This 
eastern summit of the Areopagus hill was the 
situation of the Temple of the Furies, (which must 
have been very small,) as well as of the Court, 



AND VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



47 



which was nothing more than an open space, hav- 
ing an altar of Minerva-areia upon it, and rude 
seats cut in the stone, serving for accuser and 
accused, or more probably their judges. These 
seats still remain. It was here with an interest 
never before realized in the passage, that Ave opened 
our Bibles, and read the 17th chapter of Acts. 

Standing on the very spot of its utterance, prom- 
inent in the eye on the east, immediately before 
you, is the Propylsea. Pericles erected this splendid 
structure B. C. 437. It is said to have occupied 
four years in its construction. Its name is derived 
from its forming a vestibule to the five gates or 
doors by which the Citadel or Acropolis was 
entered. It was so constructed as to be a work 
of defense, no less than of decoration, occupying 
the western extremity of the Acropolis, here 168 
feet wide. The main entrance is 58 feet wide, the 
remainder of the room being closed by two pro- 
jecting wings. Although in ruins, much of it re- 
mains to the present time entire. Its columns are 
of the fluted Doric and the Ionic orders. Colonel 
Leake, in his Topography of Athens, (a work which 
the traveller in Greece will do well to consult,) re- 
gards the Propylgea as the greatest production of 
civil architecture in Athens, " equaling the Par- 
thenon in felicity of execution, and surpassing it in 
boldness and originality of design," He also quotes 



48 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 



from an oration of Demosthenes, in which, as an 
effort of architectural art, it is placed on an "equality 
with the Parthenon, On its southern wing stood 
the little temple of the Unwinged Victory, the 
materials of which have recently been found among 
the ruins, and the temple restored. 

Eising above, and back from the Propylaea, 
stands the Parthenon. This temple, as a specimen 
of architectural skill, has ever been the admiration 
of mankind for its symmetrical proportions. Prob- 
ably, in all its nice adjustments, it stands to the 
present day without a rival. The more minutely 
it has been examined, the greater has been the 
astonishment at the achievement — in adjusting and 
proportioning all its parts, so as to secure the 
beau-ideal of perfection. 

Then, too, it was so placed, in reference to the 
Propyieea, that, as you enter the Acropolis through 
that grand portico, you get your first glimpse of the 
Pathenon, at the angle of the side and front — the 
best possible position to impress the beholder. It 
was erected by Pericles about 440 B. 0., of the beau- 
tiful white marble of Pentelicus, in honor of Mi- 
nerva Parthenon, or the Virgin Goddess. The 
Temple fronts nearly east and west, showing eight 
Doric columns in the fronts, and seventeen on the 
sides. These columns are 6 feet in diameter, by 34 
feet high, standing on a pavement, to which there is 



AND VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



49 



an ascent of three high steps. At both ends, within 
the peristyle, there is a range of six columns, form- 
ing a vestibule to the doors of the cell. The 
height of the Temple, above the platform, is 65 
feet; its length 228; and width 100 feet. It is 
supposed to occupy the site of a temple destroyed 
by Xerxes, the Hecatompedon. The Parthenon 
remained entire until 1687, when the centre of the 
edifice was destroyed by a bomb, fired by a besieg- 
ing Venetian army from Mount Lycabettus, which 
exploded the Turkish magazine kept within it. 

At the distance of about 200 feet north of the 
Parthenon stands the Erectheum. This temple is 
about 100 feet in length, in good preservation. Com- 
plex in its design, it had, at least, three fronts, and 
two or more compartments or altars. The princi- 
pal one was said to have been dedicated to Erech- 
theus, or Neptune, who was said here to have dis- 
puted with Minerva for the honor of being the 
tutelary Deity of the Athenians. We were shown 
the spring of water, under the north side portico, 
mythologically said to be that which Neptune, with 
his tridents, produced in presence of Oecrops. The 
columns of this and the eastern portico are of the 
Ionic order. The eastern end of the edifice was 
occupied by the Sacred Olive Tree, produced by 
Minerva in the contest with Neptune ; and in this 
compartment was an altar to her. 

3 



50 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 



The southern portico, fronting the north side of 
the Parthenon, is supported by Caryatides — like the 
edifice of Pentelic marble. They are human figures, 
historic in design. Under this part of the temple 
Cecrops is said to have been buried. Nothing re- 
mains to indicate the situation of any of the statues 
which the area of the Acropolis once contained. 
The colossal Minerva is supposed to have stood 
nearly in front of the Propylsea, and midway be- 
tween that splendid Doric entrance of the Acropolis 
and the Parthenon. 

We have referred to the Temple of Theseus as 
here in the vision of the Apostle. It is situated in 
the plain about a quarter of a mile westward from 
Mars Hill. It is the most perfect of all the monu- 
ments of Athens, remaining almost entire, as it was 
constructed by Cimon, the son of Miltiades, B. C. 
465, in honor of Theseus. The tradition is, that 
Cimon discovered the bones of Theseus, with a 
brazen helmet and sword lying beside them, in the 
Island of Scyrus ; and that after punishing and ex- 
pelling the people, he brought the relics to Athens, 
and here deposited them. This is a beautiful little 
temple, with fine architectural proportions, erected 
with Pentelic marble. It shows seven columns on 
its fronts, and thirteen on the sides, counting the 
angling column twice. It is now used as a Museum 
of ancient sculpture. It is an interesting and in- 



AND VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



51 



structive study to trace the origin of the veneration 
paid to relics in the Greek and Catholic churches, 
and which has so long been rife in those corrupt 
communions, to their sources in Pagan rites and 
mythology. 

The Parthenon, which derived its name from the 
virginity of Minerva, under a corrupted Christianity, 
became sacred to the Virgin Mother of Christ. And 
Theseus was superseded in the Thesium by the 
warrior St. Greorge. The legend which we find in 
Plutarch respecting Theseus, has been so frequently 
reproduced, in various forms in the Catholic church, 
that we shall here transcribe it. After giving an 
account of the death of Theseus, he says, "In suc- 
ceeding ages the Athenians honored Theseus as a 
demi-god ; induced to it as w r ell by other reasons as 
because, when they were fighting the Medes at 
Marathon, a considerable part of the army thought 
they saw the apparition of Theseus, completely armed, 
and bearing down before them upon the barbarians. 
Consulting the oracle of Apollo, they were ordered 
by the Priestess to take up the bones of Theseus, 
and lay them in an honorable place at Athens, 
where they were to be kept with the greatest care. 
But it was difficult to take them up, or even to find 
out the grave, on account of the savage and inhos- 
pitable disposition of the barbarians who dwelt in 
Scyrus. Nevertheless, Cimon having taken the Is- 



52 



ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS 



land, and being very desirous to find out the place 
where Theseus was buried, by chance saw an eagle 
on a certain eminence breaking the ground, and 
scratching it up with her talons. This he considered 
as a divine direction, and digging there, found the 
coffin of a man of extraordinary size, with lance 
of brass and sword lying by it. When these re- 
mains were brought to Athens in Cimon's galley, 
the Athenians received them with transport, as if 
Theseus himself had returned to the city. He lies 
interred in the middle of the town near the Gym- 
nasium, and his Oratory is a place of refuge, &c. 
The chief sacrifice is offered to him on the 8th of 
October ; they sacrifice to him likewise on each 8th 
day of every other month," &c. 

We deem it pertinent to introduce an extract 
from Michaud's interesting history of the Crusaders, 
which here occurs to us. The first Crusaders, after 
the most frightful disaster and suffering, had reached 
and environed J erusalem. The Saracens, within its 
walls, were resolved upon the most desperate resist- 
ance to their assaults. The fourteenth of July, 
1099 ; was fixed upon by the Crusaders to make 
their grand assault. A day of terrible conflict 
ended without any decisive result, bringing gloom 
and discouragement over the troops of the Cru- 
saders. The day following the conflict was to be 
renewed. He says, "The Priests and Bishops inde- 



AND VISIT TO MARS HILL. 



53 



fatigably visited the tents of the soldiers, promising 
them the assistance of Heaven." The day seemed 
likely to prove more fatal to the Crusaders than the 
previous one, when, " All at once the Crusaders 
saw a Knight appear upon the Mount of Olives, 
waving his buckler, and giving the Christian army 
the signal for entering the city. Godfrey and Eay- 
mond, who perceived him first and at the same time, 
cried out aloud that St. George was come to the 
help of the Christians ! The sight of the celestial 
horseman fired the besiegers with new ardor, and 
they returned to the charge," which ended in their 
complete triumph. 



CHAPTER V. 



\THENS AND ELEUSIS. 

The explorations 01 a week— Distinct impressions— Stadium of Athens— The II- 
lissus— Temple of Jupiter Olympius— Lantern of Demosthenes — The Pnyx: 
experiment on its Bema— A Soliloquy on our Journal— Valley of the Ce- 
phissus — Old Olive Trees — Hill of Colonus — Pames Range — Eleusinian Fes- 
tival : abolished by Theodosius the Great — Our Visit to Eleusis — Its Bay — 
Sacred Way — Temple of Ceres— Mount Corrydalles— Seat of Xerxes. 

The experience of several months 7 travel in Eu- 
rope, had taught us the importance of habits of dili- 
gence, and a rigid devotion of our time, first of all, 
to the primary objects of our voyage in the Orient. 
By adhering to these rules, we had found that much 
could be accomplished in a short period. At the 
close of our first week in Athens, we had explored 
nearly all its localities and monuments of historic 
interest, ancient or modern. True, the pleasure 
and benefits derived from our visit were greatly en- 
hanced and facilitated by the kind attentions of our 
missionary friends residing there ; the remembrance 
of which is traced deeply on our hearts. 

Localities and monuments, like the friends we 
have learned to love, to be distinctly remembered, 
must generally be frequently seen. We found the 
habit of obtaining " distinct impressions from distinct 



ATHENS AND EIEUSIS, 



55 



things," which in our youth we had learned from 
Addison to be " the true definition of knowledge," 
was a most admirable motto to carry along with us 
in our wide journey ings. 

We have already referred to some of the prom- 
inent objects of interest in Athens. We have now 
only space to notice briefly a few others. The site 
of her ancient Stadium is perfect ; the area was spa- 
cious; its Pentelic marble seats are all gone, ex- 
cept a few fragments; it is on the south side of the 
Illissus, which, by the way, is a stream so small 
that we could hardly say we had wet our shoes in 
its waters. 

Near at hand, and on the east of the Acropolis, 
stand the ruins of the once magnificent temple of 
Jupiter Olympus. It is said this temple was com- 
menced by Pisistratus, B. C. 550, who was a con- 
temporary of Solon. It was constructed on a grand 
scale, but Pisistratus lived only to lay its founda- 
tion, and it was left to Hadrian, the Eoman Em- 
peror, to complete the edifice, 700 years after its 
foundations were laid. Sixteen Corinthian columns 
remain standing to attest its splendor. They are 
sixty feet high by nine and a half feet in diameter. 

That ambitious monarch, Hadrian, it appears, 
adorned this part of Athens ; for his arch or gateway 
still stands, with its pompous inscriptions, on the 
south-east side, " This is the Athens of Hadrian, and 



50 



ATHENS AND ELE US-IS. 



not the City of Theseus," while on the north-west 
side is inscribed, " This is Athens, the ancient City 
of Theseus." On our first visit to the Acropolis, 
we were accompanied by Dr. King and a Greek 
friend, with whom we also visited its temples, and 
the sites and ruins of the theatres and odeium 
under its eastern walls, some of which we have be- 
fore described. In this vicinity there is also the 
very beautiful little Choragic monument of Lysi- 
crates, which, from its lantern-like shape, is called 
the "Lantern of Demosthenes." It is one of the 
earliest, as well as finest, specimens of Corinthian 
architecture ; erected about 325 B. C, and the only 
remaining temple of the kind, which formed the 
street of the Tripods. Six fine fluted Corinthian 
columns of Pentelic marble standing on an elevated 
base, support the entablature and roof. The in- 
scription on the architrave, which we copy from 
Colonel Leake, testifies that "Lysicrates led the 
chorus, when the Boys of Achamantes gained the 
victory, when Theon played the flute, when Lysi- 
odes wrote the piece, and when Evasnetus was 
Archon." 

We repeatedly stood on the Pnyx, where the 
popular meetings of the Athenians were convened. 
Although we attempted no lengthened speech from 
its Bema, we did presume to ascend this ancient 
rostrum, to test its adaptation as the stand point of 



ATHENS AND ELEUSI8. 



57 



an orator ; and found that the voice was distinctly 
heard from it, to the extent of the circular area, of 
about one and a half acres in extent, which spreads 
below it. The exterior of this arc is fronted with 
very large imbedded cyclopean stones. 

Beviewins; some of the interesting scenes of our 

o o 

visit, I find in substance the following soliloquy 
written down in my notes: "From the window of 
my apartments, as I now sit, we enjoy a fine view 
of the plain or valley of the Cephissus. It is a 
small stream, conducted now, as of old, by artificial 
channels, in various directions, through the plain, 
to irrigate the vineyards and numerous olive trees, 
which extend for several miles northward from the 
Piraeus. It was a fortunate circumstance that these 
trees escaped the devastating axe of the Turk. 
Many of them appear of great age, the trunk of the 
tree resembling a mass of old cables twisted to- 
gether. I should judge some of them are four hun- 
dred years old ! These olive trees, or those from 
which they sprung, are fabled to have been reared 
from slips from the sacred olive tree in the Erich- 
theum. In the midst of this grove, and distant a 
mile and a half from the Acropolis, was the 1 Acad- 
emia,' left by Academus to the citizens of Athens, 
for a gymnasium — then, as now, filled with olive 
and plane trees, although we noticed but one or 
two of the latter on our visit there. It is a tree 



58 ATHENS A X D ELEUSIS, 

much resembling our beech tree. The main stream 
of the Cephissus runs a short distance from the 
Academia on its north-west. Here, amid these 
groves. Plato is said to have resided, and taught 
those who sought his instructions. 

;, The hill Colonus — a rounded and stony emi- 
nence rising about thirty to forty feet above the 
level of the plain — stands a short distance north- 
east of the Academia. This was the native borough 
of the poet Sophocles. On this mound there was 
anciently a temple dedicated to Xeptune, In our 
visit to these localities we had the company and 
guidance of Dr. King. 

" The plains of Athens before me are bounded on 
the north by the Parnes range, naked and craggy. 
These mountains are separated on the west from 
Mount Daphne, by the celebrated vale of Daphne, 
leading to Eleusis. where the mysterious Eleusinian 
Festival was held every fifth year with great 
solemnity by the Athenian and Eleusinian people, 
introduced thirteen hundred and fifty-six years B. C. 
Such was its deep hold on the popular mind, that 
it was not until the period of Theodosius the Great, 
that its rites were finally abolished, having survived 
eighteen hundred years. The festival was held in 
the month of September, and was continued nine 
days. The modern Masonic institution seems to 
have imitated some of the Eleusinian rites. 



A THE N 3 AND E LEU SIS. 59 

We occupied the greater portion of a day in our 
visit to Eleusis. Its bay is cresent-formed, and the 
plain around it extends back to the mountain 
ridges, varying in breadth from three to seven 
miles, as nearly as I could estimate the distance. It 
is supposed that the mythology and fables con- 
nected with the festival, indicated that corn or 
wheat was first planted there, as Ceres was the pre- 
siding deity. The temple is in utter ruins ; nothing 
but a part of its foundations, and masses of broken 
columns, remain to indicate its site. It was con- 
structed of Pentelic marble. A few arches of an 
old acqueduct, which conveyed water from the dis- 
tant hills to the temple, are yet in good preserva- 
tion ; and the fallen ruins of other portions of it are 
seen extending for miles over the plain. It was 
constructed of well-burnt brick, large, but thin, 
much like the old Eoman brick. There are a few 
miserable huts here, each of which has its ferocious 
dog ; and it is a fortunate escape to keep them at 
good barking distance. One would hardly dream, 
from present appearances, of selecting this region 
as a site for a temple to Ceres, or any other ideal 
impersonation of grain or bounteous harvests. The 
daughter of Ceres, Proserpina, was united in the 
worship — Ceres indicated the earth ; Proserpina the 
seed, wheat, or barley. Our road to Eleusis was 
over the ancient sacred way. On reaching the bay. 



60 



A T PI E X S A X D ELEUSIS. 



the ancient road was, in some places, cut in the 
solid rock ; and the track of the chariot wheels still 
remains perfectly obvious. As we passed through 
the vale of Daphne, we stopped to examine an old 
Byzantine church, which now occupies the site of 
a Temple of Apollo. But we saw no bay tree, 
which leads us to conclude that the daughter of 
Peneus no longer has there her transmuted exist- 
ence and abode. There is along the path a deep 
gorge, made by water, extending towards the bay ; 
but it was perfectly dry. From the Bay of Eleusis 
we have a view of a part of the Island of Salamis, 
which lies before it ; and also of a part of the Strait, 
up which Themistocles feared the Spartans designed 
to escape previous to the famous battle, which his 
artifice, for that reason, hastened with the Persian 
fleet, and which took place a little farther westward 
toward the Pirssus. On the left, as we passed 
through this vale of Daphne, and a little to the 
south of it, is Mount Corydalles, both of which are 
before me in full view. And I see the summit on 
which the boastful and vain Xerxes sat upon a 
chair of gold, when he beheld the fatal battle of 
Salamis, from the sight of which, in consternation 
and haste y he fled back into Asia, From my win- 
dow, on the north, I see an abrupt break in the 
Parnes range, which indicates the site where of old 
was Phyle, celebrated in Athenian and Spartan 



ATHENS AND ELEUSIS, 



61 



history. As it is some ten hours distant, I shall 
not attempt to explore it, as Marathon has stronger 
attractions, and a visit to either is attended with 
perils, from the attacks of brigands, which some of 
our friends represent as too great to hazard." 



CHAPTER VI. 



VISIT TO MARATHON. 

Carriage Ride to Cephissa— Dubious Journey— Ferocious Dogs— Nomadic En- 
campment — View from the Mountain's Side— Marathon — Extent of the Plain 
—Difficult Descent — Tumulus Mound: a Lunch upon its Side — Gloomy 
Scene— Vain Search for a Persian Arrow — Return. 

Our desire to visit Marathon predominated over 
our fears^ and we planned to accomplish, the excur- 
sion in a day. Making our arrangements to rise at 
a very early hour, we engaged a carriage to convey 
us to the village of Cephissa, which is situated on 
the western slope of Pentelicus, distant nine miles 
from Athens. We had sent forward our saddle horses 
there, which were soon in readiness after our ar- 
rival. The ride to the village was far from in- 
viting ; but after leaving it, our route became du- 
bious enough to discourage any but stout hearts. 
Our progress was necessarily slow. There is hard- 
ly a habitation for man in many miles. But we 
were several times beset by the large and ferocious 
dogs of the shepherds, who are occasionally seen 
tending the flocks. We found a supply of good 
sized stones to cast at them, a good protection from 
their assaults, and we deemed it fortunate to en- 



VISIT TO M ARATITON, 



63 



counter no worse perils. We passed a large en- 
campment of Nomadic-looking people, a few miles 
before reaching the high and precipitous mountain 
sides which overlook the plain. On our arrival 
there, we paused to survey the scene. The tu- 
mulus mound we could distinctly see, although 
some three miles distant. 

" The mountains look on Marathon, 
And Marathon looks on the sea." 

Here we looked down on the deep bosom of that 
famed battle-field, where, in a few brief hours, was 
decided one of the most memorable battles that 
have filled the page of history. The heroic Greeks 
quite unconsciously fought for Europe and distant 
ages. Their valor, doubtless, affected our condition 
and destiny. The hand of a higher Wisdom, and 
greater might than man's, controlled the issue. 
History and its recorded events, great and small, to 
human vision, are imperfectly understood, when 
God's providential agency is lost sight of in their 
review. 

We estimated that the plain extended along the 
shore from seven to ten miles, varying in width 
from two and a half to three miles. The Greeks, 
who mustered not much over ten thousand men, 
it would appear, posted themselves on the narrow- 
est part of it, under Mount Argaliki, which over- 



64 



VISIT TO MARATHON. 



hangs its southern extremity. Here, only a small 
portion of the vast army of the Persians could be 
brought into the conflict; if they composed any- 
thing like the numbers attributed — one to two hun- 
dred thousand men, of forty-six different nations, 
they must have filled the northern portion of the 
plain. The desperate onset of the Greeks flung 
them into disorder and consternation, and achieved 
an easy victory. 

With no little difficulty we descended the steep 
sides of the mountain, and rode over the plain, a 
distance of not far from two miles to the tumulus 
mound, which was reared over the bodies of the 
one hundred and ninety Greeks, who perished near 
it in the desperate conflict. It is cone-shaped, 
somewhat flattened by time, with one or two gul- 
lies. We estimated that it was forty to fifty feet in 
height above the adjacent ground, and two hundred 
feet in diameter. It stands to the south-east of the 
centre of the plain. Of that wonder of the world — 
the proud monument of Mausolus, not a vestige re- 
mains ; while this simple mound of earth, and simi- 
lar structures, which we subsequently saw in the 
vicinity of the Hellespont, indicating the tombs of 
Achilles and others, seem likely to endure to the 
end of time. But a small part of the plain appears 
now to be cultivated. One or two Greeks were 
turning up the soil, with the same kind of rude 



VISIT X M A R A 1' HON. 



65 



plough that their ancestors used, when they turned in 
the Persian's blood beneath its furrows ; and large 
vultures, in great numbers, were flying about. We 
looked upon them as the lineal descendants of those 
who here fattened on the flesh of the Persians, 
twenty -three hundred years before. 

A broad and deep water-course passes through 
the plain to the sea, but it was perfectly dry when 
we crossed it. We noticed an immense number of 
Squill bulbs, many of them very large, and sending 
up spikes of flowers, (December 1st.) One of these 
bulbs I secured, and I have it in my conservatory, 
but as yet it gives no indication of flowering. The 
Eanunculus, too, was in full flower on the plain. 

Dismounting our horses on the side of the tu- 
mulus, we ate our lunch over the dust of the slum- 
bering Greeks. A desolate and gloomy silence per- 
vades the scene, and one looks back to that day, 
when " the battle of the warrior was here with con- 
fused noise, and with garments rolled in blood/' 
and every fiendish passion was awakened to its 
deadly hate. 

In vain we searched for the Persian's arrow, or 
the sword of the Greek. Admonished of the te- 
dious hours our return would occupy, and of the 
wasting clay, we remounted our horses, and hasten- 
ed to retrace our steps over the rugged mountains. 



66 VISIT T M ARATHO Ni 

Most glad and grateful did we feel, when some time 
after the darkness of night had gathered around us, 
we again in safety greeted our friends, under the 
roof of our hotel. 



CHAPTER VII. 



PIRAEUS, SYRA AND SMYRNA. 

Evidences of Turkish rule effaced from Greece—Its blight remains— Sympathy 
of the Greeks with Russia — Their Persecutions of Dr. King — Ancient Walled 
Avenue to Piraeus — Departure from Athens — A Day at the Piraeus — Its Har- 
bor — Munichia and Phalere — A Row in the Harbor — Visit to the Tomb of 
Themistocles — Voyage to Syra — A Breakfast on Shore — Steamer " Germani" 
— Voyage to Smyrna — Its Bay — Scenes of the Orient — Approach to the City 
— Anchorage — American Consul — Hospitalities of the Orient — American 
Missionaries— Shopping in the Bazars — Perils of the Way — Population of 
Smyrna — A Donkey Ride — Caravan Bridge — The Missionary Prayer- 
Meeting. 

The Greeks have effaced from their soil, as far 
as possible, every vestige that would recall to their 
thoughts the remembrance of the hated sway of 
the Turk. Their very graves, with their turbaned 
monuments of the males, have disappeared from ob- 
servation, so that if one chance to stamp carelessly 
over the bones of the once haughty and despotic 
Mussulman, it is with an unconscious tread. The 
crescent, the minaret and the mosque, have forever 
departed : the blighting influence of their rule on 
the soil and character of Greece, w r ill long remain 
unredressed. 

There can be no doubt that the Greeks here, as 
well as through Asia Minor, have a strong sympathy 
with Russia, and are anxiously waiting to welcome 



68 



PIR.SUS, SYR A AND SMYRNA. 



her advancing sway in that direction. This feeling 
is doubtless the result of religious affinities, which 
render Greece the peculiar protege of the Autocrat. 
The impression will intrude upon us, that it is their 
reliance upon Eussian protection which has em- 
boldened the actors in the malignant and illegal 
persecution of the Kev. Dr. King ; and if the matter 
had been quietly passed over by our own govern- 
ment, we believe that our Episcopal and Baptist 
friends there would have been visited with similar 
attentions. 

The presence of an American frigate in the waters 
of the Levant occasionally, has, I am well assured, 
a surprising influence in the estimate in which our 
countrymen are held by those who surround them. 

The ancient walled Avenue, which connected 
Athens with its ports, was attributed to Themisto- 
cles. The space between these walls was thickly 
inhabited. The modern road to the Pirseus, for 
much of the distance, pursues nearly the same path. 
Eemains of these ancient walls are very obvious. 
The entire distance is five miles. 

At ten o'clock, A. M., we left our hotel, and 
turned reluctantly our backs upon " Athens and 
its monuments," and rode to the Piraeus, where we 
spent the remainder of the day, enjoying the hospi- 
talities of the Eev. J. Buel and his excellent lady, 
of the American Baptist Mission. 



P I It M U S , SYR A AND S M Y R N A . 69 

The Piraeus is the only port of modern Athens. 
The harbor is small, but its water is deep, and would 
afford a safe and good anchorage for quite a fleet 
of vessels. It has considerable commerce, and a 
large town has arisen up there since the close of the 
Greek revolution. 

The small coves on the western side of the Pha- 
larean bay, which formed the ports of Munichia 
and Phalere, are nearly filled up, and have for 
many ages gone into disuse. They were not more 
than a mile distant eastward from the Piraeus. 
The southern ancient wall from Athens made a de- 
flection so as to include these ports. With Mr. 
Buel for our cicerone, we proceeded to the high 
ground, on the east of the town, which overlooked 
these ancient ports,, where we took a survey of the 
scene, after which we procured a boat, and rowed 
around and out of the harbor of the Piraeus. Our 
explorations extended to the end of the promontory 
beyond the eastern side of the harbor, where we re- 
paired to visit, quite in view of the bay of Salamis, 
the scene of his glory, the reputed tomb of The- 

MISTOCLES. 

We there found a sarcophagus, cut deep in the 
limestone rock, but now covered to some depth by 
the waters of the sea. A large column, it appears, 
once stood over, or near the spot, the broken blocks 
and fragments of which lay confusedly around. 



70 



PIRJE0S, SYR A A N D SMYRNA. 



As we rowed down the harbor, we passed near 
the pedestals, on which once sat the colossal marble 
lions which the Venetians transported to Venice in 
1687, and which, now so unsightly^ are set to guard 
the portal to the Arsenal of that now fallen city— 
once mistress of the ocean. "We think that stolen 
property, which can be so well identified, should be 
returned to its rightful owners. The harbor in 
ancient times was protected at night by sunken 
walls and chains. We traced, deep in the water, the 
remains of these walls, 

We left the Piraeus at six o'clock in the evening, 
and the following morning, at half-past seven, en- 
tered the harbor of Syra. This island is the great 
depot of the Austrian Lloyd steamers in the Levant, 
and chief place of commerce of the Islands of the 
Archipelago. It is one of the Cyclades, or islands 
around Delos, which group are under the govern- 
ment of Greece : as the Sporades, or islands along 
the eastern side of the iEgean, are still retained 
under the Turkish government. We found quite 
a number of vessels in the harbor. The place has 
a singular appearance. It has two towns on the 
sides and summit of a high conical hill, which over- 
hangs the port. The upper town, which caps the 
hill, is mainly occupied by the peasantry. A large 
church stands upon the very summit of the cone. 
The lower town is situated on the steep sides of the 



P I R M U S , SYRA AND SMYRNA. Yl 

base of the hill, and is mainly inhabited by the 
business part of the community. The houses are 
flat-roofed ; the streets very narrow, steep and filthy 
We landed with a view of procuring our breakfast 
on shore, but were forced to put up with a miserable 
apology for that, at a most miserable inn. We took 
a good survey of the place, and called upon the 
Eev. Mr. Hildner, a German missionary, supported 
by the London Missionary Society, to whom I had 
a letter of introduction. From the south side of 
the town we enjoyed a fine view of the neighbor- 
ing islands— Tinos, Mycone, Delos— where was the 
celebrated Temple of Apollo, founded by Erisch- 
thon, the son of Cecrops ; beside which, Nexia and 
Paros were in sight. 

In the afternoon, we went on board the fine 
steamer Germani bound for Smyrna and Constan- 
tinople. At an early hour the following morning 
we passed the island of Scio, and soon entered the 
Gulf of Smyrna. This Gulf or Bay is more than 
thirty miles long. It varies in width, between five 
and fifteen miles. About ten miles above its en- 
trance, we passed a large French fleet at anchor. 
As we approached the city, the aspect upon the 
shore gave intimation that we were amid the in- 
cidents of the Orient ; for we could distinctly see 
long caravans of camels, laden with the productions 
of Asia Minor, which they were bearing to its great 



■72 PIRJEUS, SYR A AND SMYRNA. 

mart, Smyrna. Soon the city came into view, with 
its numerous minarets, the appendages of their 
Mosques. Skirted on the right, on the side of 
Mount Pagus, rose the dark foliage of the tall Cy- 
press trees, that there betoken the burial place of 
the faithful Moslem. 

About eight miles below the city, a strong for- 
tress juts out into the bay to guard the pass, oyer 
which the crescent banner of the sanguinary Prophet 
was unfurled ; and we began to realize that we were 
indeed about to tread upon the soil of an empire, 
swayed by the successors of Mohammed. 

The city lies mainly low, extending along the 
eliptical shore, for two miles. Immediately behind 
it rises abruptly Mount Pagus, the Acropolis and 
site of the ancient town, where once flourished one 
of " the Seven churches of Asia, 7 ' designated in the 
Apocalyptical visions of John. 

On our steamer's reaching her anchorage before 
the city, we were quickly surrounded by numerous 
small boats, manned by bearded and turbaned Mo- 
hammedans and Greeks, grotesque and rude enough 
in their appearance. We bargained with one of 
them to convey us to the shore, and were quickly 
rowed to the American Consulate, where we were 
kindly received by Mr. Offley, the Consul, and con- 
ducted to his residence. Soon after we entered his 
house, we were served, according to Oriental cus- 



PIRAEUS, SYR A AND SMYRNA. 



73 



torn, with strong black coffee, and sweetmeats. The 
servant passed around two sorts of preserves on 
small silver saucers, with several spoons on the tray, 
and tumblers of water. It is customary to take 
with one of the spoons a mouthful of the preserve, 
from one of the dishes, followed by a swallow of 
water. The coffee is then passed to the company 
in china cups, holding a wine-glass full, and resting 
on small silver stands, or cup holders, of open fila- 
gree work. 

Having letters to our American Missionaries, we 
hastened to greet the faithful band, who are there 
sustained by the American Board. We were con- 
ducted through the narrow streets of the city to the 
house of Mr. Benjamin, in the hospitalities of whose 
pleasant family we once more felt ourselves quite 
at home. " Shopping" is necessarily involved, where 
there are ladies, and we soon went forth to visit the 
Bazars of the city, which are very extensive, and 
filled with goods of every description, for Oriental 
use. Along with the productions of the East, the 
manufactures of England and France crowd into 
every market. 

The shops of the Bazars are generally very small 
• — mere stalls. In one you find the keen-eyed, ac- 
tive and calculating Jew ; in another, the no less 
vigilant Armexiax. Elevated on a kind of narrow 
counter, which perhaps constitutes the area of the 

A 

± 



74 



PIRAEUS, SYR A AND SMYRNA. 



store of another, sits the corpulent Turk, lazily 
puffing at his chibouk (pipe), seeming alike indif- 
ferent whether you purchase or leave his goods. 

Most of the streets occupied by these shops are 
not over eight or ten feet wide. We found them 
wet and filthy. In traversing them one encounters 
all sorts of perils. While you are attempting to 
avoid the mud, or what may be worse, you are 
startled by the tinkling bells of a train of heavy- 
loaded camels, tied together, in tens. The bulky 
burdens which swing at their sides nearly fill the 
passage, and compel you to square round closely to 
the Bazar, or more luckily to escape into its door, 
if it is large enough to have any inside. Then comes 
a train of loaded donkeys, heavily and closely packed 
on both sides—less formidable and imposing indeed 
than the meek-faced camel, but whose contact is 
little less to be feared. Anon, you are startled with 
the hoarse voice of the Hamel (porter), with his 
more than camel burden, and you look with amaze- 
ment at the huge load his back sustains, while you 
are compelled to flee from its contact. 

The gaily-attired Turkish women, in silken and 
flowing robes, somehow manage to get through the 
muddy streets unsoiled. Their faces are veiled, ex- 
cepting a narrow opening for the eyes. They are 
rarely or never seen without the yashmak. As seen 
in the street, her feet and ancles are covered by a 



P I R J£ U S , S Y R A AND SMYRNA. 



75 



yellow leather boot, which she wears over her 
house merJcoub, or slippers. 

At the prescribed hours you hear the shrill voice 
of the Muezzin from the high balcony near the 
top of the Minaret, in chimney-sweep-like notes, 
calling the faithful Mussulman to his prayers. 
" There is no God but God : to prayer. Lo, God is 
great." 

The population of Smyrna is estimated at one 
hundred and fifty thousand, one half of them Turks, 
the other made up of Greeks, Armenians, Jews and 
Franks, or Europeans, each living in distinct quar- 
ters of the city. 

After dinner we mounted donkeys, and rode to 
the famed Caravan Bridge in the suburbs, beyond 
which we turned to the right of a large Turkish 
burying-ground, and ascended the sides of a high 
hill, which afforded an extensive view of the city 
and country adjacent. Returning from this novel 
ride, we reached the house of Mr. Benjamin in good 
tea time; after which, with lanterns in hand, we 
repaired to the residence of the Rev. Elias Riggs, to 
attend the weekly prayer meeting of the mission 
families, There we had the great pleasure of meet- 
ing all the members of the mission at this station, 
and enjoyed an hour with them in social worship. 
A privilege so kindred to the social prayer meetings 
in our own far off land we had not enjoyed for 



76 



PIRAEUS, SYR A AND S M Y RN A. 



many months. It was to us a pleasant circumstance 
to find in use the American Tract Society's volume 
of sacred songs, the 163d and 173d of which were 
the selections used for the occasion. 

How refreshing the incident ! Here, amid upper, 
nether and surrounding moral darkness, to unite 
with the little band of missionaries from our own 
loved country, in singing — 

" From every stormy wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes, ■ 
There is a calm, a sure retreat, 
Tis found beneath the mercy seat.'' 



CHAPTER VIII. 



MOUNT PAGUS AND THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP, 

Walk to Mount Pagus— Turkish Burying-ground— Turbaned-headed Stones of 
Males— Ancient Acropolis of Smyrna— Site of its stadium— Polycarp— The 
Angel of the Church of Smyrna— His Martyrdom— Account of Eusebius— 
Polycarp Arraigned — Proconsul urges him to deny Christ — Polycarp's An- 
swer—Triumphs of Faith— Intolerance of Greek and Armenian Ecclesias- 
tics—Return from Mouut Pagus— Smyrna a depot for Missionary operations 
in the Orient — The Armenian Population — Their Number and Character — 
Translations of the Bible into Modern Armenian and Armeno-Turkish. 

The morning following our arrival at Smyrna, 
in company with the Eev. T. P. Johnson, of this 
station, we walked to the top of Mount Pagus. On 
our way we passed the new and extensive Turkish 
barracks, which are constructed in European style. 
Our pathway carried us along and through the old 
and very extensive Turkish burying-ground on the 
right of the city and back of it. The grave-stones 
of the males have always a turban head, and fre- 
quently indicate the rank of the individual. They 
are generally erect, three to four feet high, with 
flat surface ten inches wide. The stones of the 
women are without turbans. The man and favorite 
wife generally he side by side. The stones are 
lettered, and often gilded or painted in part with 



78 



MOUNT P A G U S , 



gay colors. We noticed in general a great apparent 
neglect in the care of the Turkish cemeteries. 

A dilapidated castle of large area crowns the sum- 
mit of Mount Pagus, occupying the site of the an- 
cient Acropolis, around which, of old, the city was 
built. The site of the ancient Stadium we could 
distinctly trace — that very Stadium in which Poly- 
carp was burned, A. D. 167, in the " Fourth Perse- 
cution" which occurred under the Eoman Emperor, 
Marcus Aurelius. Numerous other confessors of 
the faith of Jesus, were here devoured by wild 
beasts, or consumed by flames. 

" From torturing pains to endless joys 
On fiery wheels they rode." 

In our earlier years we had read in " Milner's Church 
History" the account of those scenes of cruel perse- 
cution, little expecting that we should ever tread 
over the very ground of their occurrence. 

Archbishop Usher assumes, with probable correct- 
ness, that Poly carp was "the Angel of the Church 
of Smyrna," specially addressed (Eev. 2 : 8.) He 
was doubtless a disciple of John. In the narrative 
of the martyrdom of Polycarp and others, given 
subsequently, by the Church of Smyrna, and pre- 
served in Eusebius, they say of these early witnesses 
of the faith: " Though torn with whips till the frame 
and structure of their bodies were laid open, even 



AND THE M A II T ST. R D M OF POLYCARP. 79 

to their veins and arteries, they meekly endured — 
such was their fortitude that no one of them uttered 
a sigh or groan. The fire of savage tormentors was 
cold to them ; for they had steadily in view a de- 
sire to avoid that fire which is eternal. In like 
manner those who were condemned to the wild 
beasts, underwent for a time cruel torments, being 
placed under shells of sea fish, and exposed to va- 
rious tortures, that, if possible, they might be 
tempted to deny their Master." When Poly carp, 
in his extreme old age, had been arrested and 
brought to the tribunal, the Proconsul urged him to 
deny Christ. Poly carp replied, "eighty and six 
years have I served Him, and he hath never wrong- 
ed me ; and how can I blaspheme my King who 
hath saved me?" "I have wild beasts," says the 
Proconsul; " I will expose you to them unless you 
repent." " Call them," replies the martyr. " I will 
tame your spirit by fire, since you despise wild 
beasts, unless you repent." " You threaten me 
with fire," answers Poly carp, " which burns for a 
moment, and will be soon extinct; but you are ig- 
norant of the future judgment and of the fire of 
eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly." In 
the exercise of such a calm reliance on the unseen 
hand of Jesus, and with such a noble testimony for 
his gospel, was he committed to the flames. He re- 
membered who it was that had said to him, " Fear 



80 



MOUNT P AG-US. 



none of those tilings which thou shalt suffer"—" Be 
thou faithful unto death and I -will give thee a 
crown of life." Eleven others from Philadelphia 
suffered martyrdom with him. at the same time. 

It is no breach of Christian charity to infer, that 
many of the higher ecclesiastics of the Greek and 
Armenian church both indulge and cherish the 
spirit of these ancient persecutors : and were they 
not restrained by the arm of government, the fag- 
got and the fire would soon be gathered around 
many of those, who, enlightened by the truths of 
God's pure word, which have been brought to their 
knowledge by the labors of our American Mission- 
aries, have renounced those Paganized communions, 
even at the cost of the loss of all their earthly goods. 
The scene was well adapted to bring to our thoughts 
and self scrutiny those lines of Watts so often sung : 

" Must I be carried to the skies 
On flowery beds of ease, 
"Whilst others fought to win the prize. 
And sailed through bloody seas r 

Turning from this interesting spot, we descended 
directly down the steep sides of the Mountain, into 
the city, passing through streets so filled with water, 
mud and filth, that they were nearly impassable to 
travellers on foot. Recently, quite a large district 
had been entirely devastated by -fire, over which 



A N D THE MARTYRDOM OF P O LYCABP. 81 

new streets were laid out, at right angles, and of 
improved width. 

It may be proper here to remark, that Smyrna 
has thus far been a less promising field for the Mis- 
sionary than Constantinople, and many other sta- 
tions in the Turkish empire, occupied by American 
Missionaries. It has been used as the principal de- 
pot of the American Board of Commissioners, for 
conducting the printing and other matters incident 
to their extended operations in the Orient. The 
Rev. Mr. Eiggs has devoted his time mainly to the 
object of completing the translation of the Bible into 
the modern Armenian, with the Armenian charac- 
ter. The Armenians in Turkey number, it is sup- 
posed, three millions. Scattered as they are, widely 
over the Orient, they constitute one of its most 
hopeful redeeming elements. Active and intel- 
ligent, in many traits of their character, they prom- 
ise to be for Turkey, what the New Englanders are 
to our own land. Should the pure Protestant faith 
gain a predominating influence among them, much 
may be hoped from their labors in spreading the 
Gospel in Asia. To meet the exigency of their pe- 
culiar condition it has been found necessary to make 
for them two translations of the Bible. The one 
above named in modern Armenian in the Arme- 
nian character, and another translation of it into 



MOUNT PAGL'8. 



Armeno-Turkisli, or the Turkish language with 
the Armenian character. This last named trans- 
lation was made by the Key. William Goodell at 
Constantinople. 



CHAPTER IX. 



VOYAGE FROM SMYRNA TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Return to the " G ermani" — Voyage to Constantinople— Deck of Oriental Steamers 
—Harem of a Pasha— The Mussulman at Prayer— Deck Passengers at Night 
—Arrival at Mitylene— Pass Tencdos and Troas— Enter the Dardanelles- 
Anchorage — Consular Flags— Ancient Abydos — Crossing-place of Xerxes — 
Leander and Hero— Lord Byron— Arrived at Gallipoli— A Night on the 
Marmora— Arrival at Constantinople. 

At four o'clock, P. M., we returned on board the 
" Grermani" to pursue our voyage to Constantinople. 
The deck of an oriental steamer presents a unique 
spectacle to the eye of an American traveller. Be- 
tween Smyrna and Constantinople, and the inter- 
mediate ports, the intercourse is very considerable. 
The Asiatics are nearly all deck passengers. TVe 
had two Pashas in our company, and one of them 
had his harem on the deck, an awning, being ex- 
tended around and over a sufficient space to ac- 
comodate him and the women of his retinue. At 
the regular hour of prayer, the upper-class Mussul- 
man enquires the point of the compass ; his servant 
then spreads a knee-cloth, much like a common 
hearth-rug, upon the deck, in the direction of their 
Keblah, Mecca, on which he drops on his knees. 



84 



VOYAGE FROM SMYR N A 



and goes through, the prescribed prostrations, re- 
gardless of the confusion around. 

The greater part of our passengers at night, in 
heterogeneous mass, laid down upon such luggage 
as they had, entirely exposed to the cold and rain 
that overtook us, having little or no protection, ex- 
cept the coarse hooded over-coats generally worn 
by them. 

Our steamer passed up between Mitylene and the 
coast, and reached her place of landing on that 
island at twelve o'clock, midnight. The darkness 
of the night prevented my seeing anything satis- 
factorily on the shore. We were up with Tenedos 
at five o'clock, A. M. In another hour we were 
nearly abreast of Troas, with Mount Ida in sight, 
some miles distant inland. At ten o'clock we 
entered the mouth of the Dardanelles. Some miles 
above two strong fortresses guard the Pass : the 
castle of Eomalia, on the European side, that of Na- 
talia on the side of Asia. They were erected A. D. 
1659 by Mahomet Fourth. Their long brass guns, 
formerly in use, if not now, could discharge a 
granite ball over two feet in diameter. By treaty 
stipulation, no European ship of war is allowed to 
enter the strait, without express permission from 
the Turkish government. At twelve o'clock, A. M., 
we anchored just above the town of Dardanelles. 
Quite a number of Consular flags, of the different 



TO CONSTANTINOPLE, 



85 



European nations, were floating over the buildings 
on shore. The passage is here more than a mile 
wide. 

At three o'clock, P. M., we hoisted our anchor, and 
very soon passed Nagara Point, the ancient Abydos. 
This is generally regarded as the place where 
Xerxes constructed his boat-bridges, over which 
to pass his invading myriads into Europe. Par- 
meno, at a later day, led the troops of Alexander 
over the same pass into Asia. To these incidents 
we purpose again to refer in another chapter. This 
too is the scene of the story of Leander and Hero, 
the priestess of Venus at Sestos. We estimated the 
width of the Hellespont here to be a full mile. 
Seven stadia was the old estimate. Lord Byron 
swam across, at this point, in one hour and ten 
minutes, in May, 1810. We reached Gallipoli at 
half past five o'clock, P. M., where we entered on 
the sea of Marmora, on which we experienced a 
rainy and tempestuous night. We hoped to reach 
Constantinople at an early hour on the following 
morning, especially as it was the Sabbath ; but the 
severity of the storm delayed our progress, as well 
as prevented our seeing the coast of the Mar- 
mora with any satisfaction as we approached the 
city. At twelve o'clock, M., the tall minarets 
and domes of the great Mosques Achmedje, Sulei- 
manye and St. Sophia, came into view, with the 



86 



VOYAGE FROM SMYRNA. 



walls along the shore, and buildings on the side of 
the city bordering the Marmora. We were na- 
turally anxious to identify the grand church of 
Theodosius, or more properly of Justinian — St. 
Sophia, around which so many historic incidents 
gather of peculiar interest to the Christian traveller. 
It occupies a site in close proximity to the Seraglio 
grounds. In little more than half an hour after the 
city came into view, we reached our anchorage in 
the Golden Horn. 



CHAPTER X. 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Population of the City and its Suburbs— Its Subjugation by Mahomet Second- 
Termination of the Roman Greek Empire— Its Splendid Position— Scenery 
Described — Anchorage in the Golden Horn— Spacious Harbor— Land at 
Tophanna— Dogs and Filth— Hotel d'Angleterre Pera— Sabbath— Armenian 
Service— Firman to Visit the Seraglio and Mosk — Boat Bridges over the 
Golden Horn— Streets of the City— Charms to Avert the Evil Eye— Seraglio 
Grounds — Meeting of the Sultan— His Appearance and Age— Visit the Ser- 
aglio—Partial Description — Mosk of St. Sophia — Erected by Justinian — 
Mosk Achmedje— Monuments on Ancient Hippodrome — Mosk Suilemanye 
— Muftee and his Learners — Mausoleums of Sultans — Return to Hotel — 
Evenings with American Missionaries. 

We must compress within the limits of a single 
chapter the relation of a few of the incidents of our 
visit at Constantinople. We will here remark that 
the city proper has a population estimated at five 
hundred thousand. The suburbs of Pera, Galata, 
and Tophanna, on the northern side of the Golden 
Horn, have two hundred thousand more; and 
Scutari, on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, is 
supposed to contain one hundred thousand. The 
Turkish Sultan, Mohammed Second, at the head of 
an army of three hundred thousand men, made 
himself master of Constantinople, A. D. 1453 ; and 
terminated the empire of the Eoman Greeks. Con- 
stantine, its last emperor, was there slain sword in 



88 



CONST A NTINOPLE 



hand. The commanding position of Constantinople 
has ever arrested the attention of the traveller, and 
it is easy to discover some of the considerations 
which, independent of those of a political character, 
must have influenced Constantine to select this 
splendid situation, as the metropolis of the mighty 
empire which he swayed. 

On its northern side the remarkable cornucopia- 
like formed indentation, from the Bosphorus, near 
the point where it meets the Marmora, constitutes the 
splendid harbor of " the Golden Horn," in the deep 
waters of which a thousand ships may he in safety. 
Its southern side is washed by the waves of the sea 
of Marmora, which, at Seraglio Point, meet the 
impetuous waters of the Bosphorus, as it there dis- 
charges, upon its bosom, its unceasing and mighty 
flood. 

The bold and picturesque scenery of two con- 
verging Continents here fill the eye. These consti- 
tute some of the combined natural advantages of 
the location, which may well impress every visitor. 
The tall and glittering minarets and domes of the 
Mosk conspire to add to the imposing effect. 

In view of such a scene our steamer anchored in 
the Golden Horn at half past twelve o'clock, P. M. 
In Turkish ports the traveller is free from the delay 
and annoyances of the police and custom-house re- 
gulations, and we soon put ourselves in charge of a 



C 3S S T A X T T X O PIE. 



89 



Cicerone from the Hotel d'Angleterre, Pera, and in 
one of the numerous caiques which quickly sur- 
rounded our vessel, we were rowed to the quay at 
Tophanna, where we landed at one o'clock, P. M«, 
amid filth, mud, and an army of small and famished 
dogs which lined the shore, and snarled at our heels 
as we proceeded through their more appropriate 
haunts. They are generally of a brown color, 
The dogs in Constantinople form one of its notable 
characteristics. They are not domesticated, and 
were formerly much more numerous and annoying 
than at present. They are said to liye in separate 
communities, and have among them a kind of 
municipal regulation, that no dog must intrude 
beyond his defined limits, and wo to the cur who 
ventures beyond the protection of his fellows. Some 
months later, when in Cairo, we saw a like regula- 
tion carried out, quite to our astonishment. Pera 
occupies a high, steep and narrow ridge. A tedious 
walk of half an hour brought us to the Hotel d' An- 
gleterre, there to meet the greeting of our travelling 
friends who had preceded us from Athens. 

After partaking of a lunch at the hotel, we im- 
mediately repaired to the residence of the Eev. Wil- 
liam Groodellj with the hope of attending some part 
of the religious services of the Mission Station, and 
were conducted to the chapel, where an Armenian 
congregation was assembled, the services being con- 



90 



C CONSTANTINOPLE. 



ducted by its pastor, a native preaclier. At the close 
of these services we were introduced to the pastor 
and some of the congregation, and had the pleasure of 
recognizing, as a fellow- disciple of the pure Protest- 
ant faith, one or more of the number who, in pre- 
vious years, had endured bonds, imprisonment, and 
the loss of all things, for the name of Christ, from 
the hands of the persecuting Armenian ecclesiastics. 
We purpose again to refer to some of our subse- 
quent intercourse with the American Missionary 
circle here* 

A visit to the Seraglio and Mosk is an import- 
ant attainment of a visit to Constantinople, to se- 
cure which it is necessary to procure a Firman from 
the Turkish government, and the conduct of an of- 
ficial, as the Turks would not admit, nor would it 
be safe for a Christian to enter a Mosk without 
express authority. The expenses of a" firman are 
about fifty dollars, the same for an individual, or a 
party often. Our Philadelphia friends, through the 
interposition of Mr. Brown, Dragoman to the Ameri- 
can Minister Resident, had procured one, and awaited 
our arrival, that we might participate in its use. We 
rose at an early hour on Monday morning to avail 
ourselves of its full benefits. Our preparations for the 
toils and anticipated pleasure of the day arranged, 
shortly after breakfast we stepped into the gay and 
odd-appearing carriages provided to convey us on 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



91 



our excursion to the city. The Janissary (a kind 
of Turkish police officer) of Mr. Brown, with a Ci- 
cerone from the hotel, accompanied us. We rode 
to one of the boat-bridges, over which we crossed 
the Golden Horn. There are two of these bridges 
connecting Pera and Gralata with the city proper. 
They are constructed and used much like the 
bridges upon the Ehine. 

On reaching the city we were conducted through 
a series of narrow and dirty streets, lined by equally 
filthy houses and stores. The various trades are 
prosecuted in separate streets. One is wholly occu- 
pied by smiths ; another by shoemakers ; a third by 
saddlers, &c. Over almost every door we noticed 
either an old horse shoe nailed up, or more general- 
ly a bunch of garlic. They are charms to avert 
the effects of " the evil eye: 1 The Turk believes if 
another looks on any of his possessions with a covet- 
ous desire, something is thereby detracted from its 
value or quality. Thus, if he has a fine child, one 
could not well displease him more, than by caress- 
ing it. If you look upon the child with admiration, 
not only are you supposed to detract from its qual- 
ity, its life, also, is regarded as periled thereby. To 
avert these ills, not only is the charm hung up, but 
the mother when she suspects that such feelings to- 
wards her child are cherished, spits back over her 
shoulder; this is frequently seen. These heathen- 



92 



CONSTANTINOPLE, 



isli impressions must be a fruitful source of wretch- 
edness. 

We proceeded directly to the Seraglio, into the 
grounds of which our firman secured for us a ready 
admittance. These grounds and the palace occupy 
a space of three miles in circuit. The area is in 
form much lite New York west of Chambers street. 
We had proceeded but a short distance in the 
grounds before we were arrested in our progress by 
the intelligence that the Sultan, Abdul Medjid, was 
at the Seraglio, and that we must await his depar- 
ture. This was a peculiarly fortunate circumstance, 
as it would afford to us an excellent opportunity to 
see his Majesty, We alighted from our carriages 
and arranged ourselves in a way to show all due 
respect to his highness. In a short time the Im- 
perial retinue approached us. There was very little 
pageantry about it. The Sultan was attended by 
some of his officers of state, and a small guard. He 
was dressed in sinrple European costume, with Tar- 
bouch (Eed cap) upon his head, and mounted upon 
a fine horse. His favorite white Arab caparisoned, 
was led behind the retinue. They passed us at a 
slow walk, and the Sultan eyed our party well. 
He is a man of medium size, thin and agreeable 
face, black hair and whiskers, and thirty-two years 
old. He ascended the throne of the Sultans, July 
1st, 1839, at the age of seventeen. His guard were 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



08 



all on foot. His sublime Majesty having retired, 
we proceeded directly to the garden and Seraglio. 
The garden immediately surrounding the palace is 
neatly laid out, and has some rare and fine orna- 
mental trees and exotics. On entering the Seraglio, 
as in the Mosk, you are required to take off your 
shoes, so that it is quite necessary to provide before- 
hand slippers, to be worn in passing through the 
apartments. The situation of the palace is very 
fine. It is, however, no longer the Eoyal residence, 
and we found in it much less of Oriental magnifi- 
cence than we had expected ; much of its furniture 
has doubtless been transferred to the new palaces 
upon the shores of the Bosphorus. The bathing 
rooms, entirely inlaid with beautiful marbles, are 
very fine. We shall not attempt to describe the 
various apartments and appendages of this old pal- 
ace of the Sultans. 

We left the Seraglio by its grand entrance, ex- 
amining on our way out of the enclosure the large 
hall, where the Divan is held. In this hall there is 
a large elevated bed-like platform, richly covered, 
and its sides ornamented with precious stones. On 
this side the Grand Vizier and officers of state re- 
cline, or rather sit, when convened to administer 
the affairs of the empire. From the Seraglio we 
went directly to St. Sophia, which is but a short 
way from it. The present edifice was erected by 



94 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



the Emperor Justinian, A. D. 538. It occupies the 
site of former churches, successively destroyed by 
fire, which had been erected by Constantine and 
Theodosius. It is built in the form of a Greek 
cross, in a quadrilateral edifice two hundred and 
forty feet in width, north and south, and two hun- 
dred and sixty-nine in length from east to west. 
Pour minarets have been added to its exterior cor- 
ners by successive Sultans since its appropriation as 
a Mosk. On three of its sides are colonnades with 
cupolas. There is a wide vestibule extending the 
entire width of the western end of the building. 
This large space, or outer court, was formerly ap- 
propriated to persons who were under church cen- 
sure, as well as for the main entrance to the edifice. 
As we entered this vestibule, we were required to 
take off our street boots, and substitute slippers. I 
found well-polished boots answered my purpose 
equally well. Large numbers of Mussulmans were 
in the body of the building. We thought they did 
not appear to be much pleased with the intrusion 
of our party. 

The various doors were of bronze, ornamented 
with crosses which have been mutilated by the 
Turks. The mosaic pictures of saints which adorn- 
ed the interior niches and ceilings of the galleries 
for females, have been whitewashed or plastered 
over. Singular as it may appear, such is the fact, 



C ONS T A N T 1 N OPL E . 



95 



the Turk is afraid of the eyes of a pictured saint 
upon the interior walls of a building. On several 
occasions in our eastern travels we noticed the mu- 
tilation of the eyes in such pictures. In the galleries 
we distinctly saw the mosaic work under the wash 
intended to cover it. 

The dome of St. Sophia is one hundred and fif- 
teen feet in diameter, and one hundred and eighty 
feet high above the floor. It is very flat, and is 
supported by four large columns. Several of the 
old heathen temples in the empire were put under 
contribution for the adorning of the interior. Here 
are Porphyry columns from Aurelian's Temple of 
the Sun ; green jasper from that of Diana at Ephe- 
sus ; red granite from Egypt, and serpentine from 
other parts. Ostrich's eggs and lamps, suspended 
around the interior, gave to it a singular effect. As 
the Mussulman's prayer and prostrations must all 
be made in the direction of Mecca, the pulpit is 
placed at a south-eastern angle from the right lines 
of the interior. Prayers are read from this high 
pulpit on Fridays. It is reached by a flight of long 
and steep encased stairs. 

Under the protection of our Turkish janissary 
we met with no opposition in our careful examina- 
tion of this ancient church, which has survived the 
vicissitudes of thirteen centuries, but now desecrated 
to subserve the delusions of the followers of Mo- 



96 



CONSTANTINOPLE, 



hammed. May the crescent here soon give place to 
the cross, and a pure faith be taught within its walls. 

Highly interesting as was our visit here, we yet 
experienced some disappointment, as the edifice did 
not fully meet our anticipations of its magnificence. 

From St. Sophia we rode directly to the Mosk 
Ackmedje, built by the Sultan Achnied. It occu- 
pies a part of the site of the ancient Hippodrome. 
This Mosk has six tall minarets. The structure is 
large. Its cupola is supported by four enormous 
columns, each more than one hundred feet in cir- 
cumference. The interior is plain. It has a large 
gallery, in which you see deposited a great number 
of trunks and packages containing valuables, which 
are sent here for safe keeping, it being a sacred de- 
posit. Upon the open square, near which this 
Mosk stands, and which formed a portion of the 
grounds of the Hippodrome, there are three ancient 
monuments of considerable interest which we ex- 
amined on leaving the Mosk. The most inter- 
esting of these is the brazen column of three ser- 

o 

pents, spirally twisted, but now headless, and sup- 
posed to have been brought from Delphi. Another 
is a fine Egyptian obelisk, a granite monolith fifty 
feet high, erected by Theodosius the Great. The 
possession and transportation of Egyptian obelisks 
would seem to have been a favorite attainment of 
the Eoman Emperors. Many of these obelisks, it 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 



97 



is known, now adorn modern Eome. Near to the 
obelisk of Theodosius there is a dilapidated column, 
which, was obviously once covered with metallic 
plates. 

We next visited the great Mosk Suleimanye, 
which was erected by Suleiman the Magnificent, 
A. D. 1550. This is the most splendid of the 
Mosk. It is much in the style of St. Sophia. 
The fountains, domed colonnades, and spacious 
courts pertaining to these Mosk, combine to secure 
an imposing effect. 

At the hour of our visiting the Suleimanye, we 
found a number of Muftees, or teachers, seated on 
cushions in various parts of the floor or pavement 
of the interior, with the Koran open before them, 
and resting upon small desks inlaid with pearl. 
Around each of them was grouped at his feet a 
large class of learners of various ages, to whom 
they were expounding with great animation their 
sacred lessons. 

We now repaired to the Mosque-like Mausoleum 
of the late Sultan Mahmood, and to that also of 
Suleiman the Magnificent. The last named has a 
vaulted roof studded with precious stones and 
diamonds. The large sarcophagus of each of these 
Sultans is covered with rich camel's-hair shawls, 
which have been left from time to time on the oc- 
casion of the visits of near relatives of the deceased. 

5 



CONSTANTINOPLE, 



The visits we have enumerated, with other in- 
cidental examinations which were made, quite satis- 
fied us with our achievement in one short day. 
We returned to our hotel, and dined at a late hour. 

At night Egyptian darkness reigns in the streets 
of all oriental cities, especially if the weather be 
cloudy. As they have no lights, those who venture 
out take with them long transparent paper lanterns. 
Ps. 119 : 105. 

At evening we repaired to the house of the Rev. 
Wm, Goodell, where we had the pleasure of meet- 
ing not only his interesting family, but also the 
Eev. J. S. Everett and family, as well as other 
members of the American Missionary circle there, 
with whom we enjoyed a season of social and 
religious intercourse and prayer. In a circle so 
literally American, and so truly congenial to our 
best sympathies, we found it a pleasure and a 
privilege to spend the greater part of our subse- 
quent evenings while in Constantinople. One 
needs to be similarly circumstanced, five thousand 
miles from home, fully to sympathize in our feel- 
ings, as we there united in singing " America 

"My country ! 'tis of thee,' ; 
Sweet land of liberty. 

Of thee I sing : 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the pilgrim's pride ; 
From every mountain side. 

Let freedom ring. 



C O K ST A NTINOP LE., 

My native country thee, 
Land of the noble free, 

Thy name I love ; 
I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and templed hills ; 
My heart with rapture thrills. 

Like that above."' 



CHAPTER XI. 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT — CONSTANTINOPLE 
TO BEIRUT. 

Constantinople and New York— Adieu to Missionaries— Row to the " German!" 
—Sun-set View in the Golden Horn — Proceed on our Voyage— Arrival at 
Gallipoli — Its fine situation— The first European city taken by the Turk9 
—Ancient Tumuli — The Site of Lampsacus — Lysander's battle-ground — 
Time in passing through the Hellespont — Second Examination — Xerxes' 
Crossing-place Identified — His Immense Army — His Anger at the Waves — 
Crosses the Hellespont in Great Pomp — Returns a Fugitive — Alexander's 
army crosses into Asia — Mount Ida — Leave the Strait— Tumuli on Shore — 
Wind Mills — Alexander Troas — Its Ruins — Change since Paul left his 
Cloak and Parchments — Arrival at Smyrna — Embark for Syria — Scio and 
Samos— Patmos, bleak and barren— One of the Sporades — Island of Coos — 
Night at Symi — Arrival at Rhodes — Knights of St. John — Their Desolated 
Palaces — Arrival at Cyprus — Its ruined condition under the Moslem — 
View of Lebanon from the Sea — Arrival at Beirut — American Mission- 
aries — Their Character. 

The sites respectively occupied by Constantinople 
and the city of New York, in many of their topo- 
graphical aspects, present a marked resemblance. 
To make the relation more impressive, the points 
of compass for New York, as well as the North 
Eiver and bay, need be somewhat reversed. With 
the Battery pointing north-eastwardly, instead of 
west, as it does, it would well correspond with 
Seraglio point : the North Eiver and bay on the 
one side, illustrating the sea of Marmora and the 
Bosphorus, Jersey City well corresponds to Sen- 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



101 



tara, on the Asiatic side; while the East Eiver 
would well personate the Golden Horn. The sub- 
urbs Tophanna, Galata and Pera, have their illus- 
tration measurably in Brooklyn and its shores. 
Manhattan Island, west of Thirtieth street, well re- 
presents the area occupied within the walls of Con- 
stantinople in extent and form. Constantinople is 
not the place for the traveller to search for fine 
specimens of architectural skill, ancient or modern. 
The old Byzantine style had nothing in it very 
attractive. Its highest impression was probably 
attained by the Venetians in their Basilica San 
Marco in Venice ; for the construction and adorn- 
ment of which, it is well known, they put under 
contribution almost the whole region of the Levant, 
in collecting from the ruins of ancient edifices the 
five hundred columns which are comprised in its 
structure. 

"We are not aware that the Turks ever evinced 
any good taste in the direction of the fine arts. 
The early Saracens in these, and all other respects, 
were a superior race of men. 

Measurable degradation, and imposing splendor 
in their contrasts, have always characterized the 
Orient. Wherever the Gospel has had its ap- 
propriate influence, it has doubtless elevated the 
condition as well as purified the character of the 
masses. 



102 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



Our interesting visit at Constantinople and its vi* 
canity finished, we gave a reluctant adieu to our 
Missionary friends and their famihes, whose Chris- 
tian society we had so much enjoyed in this region 
of wide-spread moral death. Goodell — that warm- 
hearted veteran on the Foreign Missionary field, 
every inch of him an American still, after long years 
of self-expatriation in the cause of giving the pure 
Gospel to the millions of Asia, — his parting charge, 
I cannot better convey, than by inserting it on this 
page: '"'Pour out my love on America, on the right 
hand, and on the left" said he ; and this is but a sam- 
ple of the warm affection cherished for their native 
land by all our missionary families. Their prayers 
go up to the throne of grace in our behalf, and it is 
to be hoped, may receive answers of mercy in the 
perpetuity of our one great, happy and undivided 
country. Great as are some of the evils included in 
our social system, the sun does not shine on an- 
other land so highly blessed. It was one of the 
brightest days we had enjoyed during our visit. 
We left our hotel at three o'clock P. M., and drove 
to the quay, where we entered a caique and rowed 
to the German! The setting sun lighted up the 
gilded domes and minarets of the Mosks of St. 
Sophia. Sideimenye, and Achmedje. and the beauty 
of the scene, from the deck of our fine steamer as 
she lay in the " Golden Horn, 8 ' might make one for- 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



103 



get for a time the mud, filth and dogs Ave had en- 
countered in the narrow streets of the city. With 
the shades of evening we passed out into the Mar- 
mora. At seven o'clock on the following morning, 
we had entered the Dardanelles, and soon after 
passed the large town of Gallipoli, situated on the 
European side, and occupying one of the finest sites 
for a city which we had seen in the Levant, pre- 
senting a striking resemblance to Detroit, on the 
St. Clair. This was the first European city that 
submitted to the Turks, A. D. 1357, over which the 
Crescent waved for near a century before Constan- 
tinople fell under the same malign sway. A short 
distance below and west of the town, we noticed an- 
cient tumuli, or mounds, which are reputed to be 
the tombs of ancient kings of Thrace. The site of 
the ancient Lampsacus, is pointed out on the Asiatic 
side, about two miles below Grallipoli. This city, it 
was said, was given by Xerxes, or more probably 
his son, Artaxerxes, to Themistocles, as a portion 
of his revenue, when, after his banishment by the 
Athenians, he repaired to the Persian court. He 
had three cities given to him for his bread, wine, 
and meat, Magnesia, Lampsacus, and Myus. It was 
in the Dardanelles, a little below Lampsacus, that 
Lysander gained his signal victory over the Athe- 
nian fleet, B. C. 405. The entire length of the Hel- 
lespont is about thirty-six miles. The distance be- 



104 



V O Y AGE I N T HE L E V A N T . 



tweeii Grallipoli and the town of Dardanelles, which 
is some miles above its mouth, is not far from twen- 
ty-five. Our steamer made her upward and down- 
ward passage, between these points, in two and a 
half hours, each way. In both passages we care- 
fully examined the character of the channel, and its 
shores, with the object of satisfying ourselves as to 
the identhyy of the place where the great armies of 
ancient and more modern times had probably made 
their crossing place, more especially where Xerxes 
must have constructed his bridges. 

Our second examination entirely satisfied us of 
the correctness of the received tradition, to which 
we have referred in a previous chapter. This in- 
teresting spot we again reached at half-past nine 
o'clock A. M. More than twenty-three hundred 
years had elapsed since the proud monarch of 
Persia here assembled his mighty hosts to over- 
whelm the Greeks. The ungoverned waves, re- 
gardless of his pomp or his authority, had dashed 
unheeding] y against the first two bridges that he 
had constructed, and measurably destroyed them; 
and in his puerile rage he treated it as a revolting 
menial, ordering it to be beaten with rods, while he 
thus addressed it : " Bitter flood, it is thus thy mas- 
ter punishes thee, because thou hast offended him, 
without having received any injury at his hands." 

His two bridges repaired, seven days and nights 



V Y A 6 E I X T II E L E V A N T 



105 



were occupied in passing over his army, said to con- 
sist of one million seven hundred thousand foot and 
eighty thousand horse, beside an immense retinue. 
Little did Xerxes dream, while he was crossing the 
Hellespont, with so much pomp and glory, into 
Europe, that in a few short weeks he would here 
return, defeated and affrighted, glad to be rowed 
back even in a miserable fisherman's boat. One 
hundred and fifty years later, the army of Alexan- 
der crossed at the same place, when he led his vic- 
torious troops into Asia, to deal out the full cup of 
Grecian revenge on the Persian empire. Mount Ida 
was full in view on the east, eight or ten miles in 
the interior, and the whole scene before us was 
memorable in Grecian story. 

Soon after leaving the Dardanelles, we again no- 
ticed some remarkable tumuli on the Asiatic shore, 
designated as the tombs of Achilles and Protesilaus. 
It was near this point that the Greeks laid up their 
vessels at the siege of Troy : on a promontory near, 
there is seen quite a number of wind-mills. We 
now had the high and naked Island of Imbros in the 
north-west, ten miles in the distance, and beyond it 
Samothracia was clearly seen. At half-past two 
o'clock P. M., we reached Tenedos, and in half an 
hour were abreast of Alexandria " Troas." It was 
here that "a vision appeared to Paul in the night," 
(Acts 16 : 9,) beckoning him to cany the Gospel 

5* 



106 



VOYAG.E JX THE LEVANT, 



into Europe, and it added not a little to the interest 
of our voyage, that we were now on the track of 
Paul and his companions, in his return for the last 
time, to Jerusalem, recorded in Acts, 20 and 21. 
The whole region where the city once stood, is en- 
tirely desolate, and covered to a considerable extent 
with wood. The ruins are said to be many miles 
in extent, and hundreds of columns are scattered 
along the shore. With the aid of a good glass, we 
could distinctly see a large ruin one or two miles 
from the shore, known as " the Palace of Priam." 
What a change has come over these shores since 
the day that Paul " left his cloak, books, and parch- 
ments" there with Carpus, (II Timothy, 4 : 13.) 

At sunset we were up with Mitylene, and late in 
the evening we stopped at its port for passengers, 
and at an early hour the following morning, we 
were at anchor before Smyrna. Here we enjoyed 
the pleasure of another short visit in the families of 
our missionary brethren, Messrs. Biggs, Benjamin, 
and Johnson. 

In the afternoon we bade them ''farewell," and 
embarked on our pilgrimage to Syria and the Holy 
Land. It was a lovely evening. At ten o'clock 
we were up -with Scio, the Chios of Acts, 20 : 15. 
At an early hour the following morning we passed 
Samos, and ere long had Patmos on our right, eight 
or ten miles in the distance. To this bleak, barren, 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 1 V 

and irregular shaped island, ten or twelve miles in 
length, by six in breadth, John, the beloved dis- 
ciple, was banished, " for the Word of God, and 
for the testimony of Jesus Christ." The sight of 
Patmos, gray, rocky and naked, might well awake 
emotions unique and impressive. The mighty and 
wondrous scenes, to occur in the revolving ages of 
Gospel history, to its final consummation, which 
were there pictured before him, for the instruction 
and admonition of the Church, have afforded themes 
which men, if not angels, have " desired to look into" 
more clearly in all ages, They are historic columns, 
whose plinth rested on the blood-stained foundation 
of the Soman Empire, but whose entablature reach- 
es the cloudless and peaceful regions of heaven, 
there surmounted by Zion's King— the spiral hiero- 
glyphic inscriptions on whose shaft, can only well 
be deciphered by those who are above their parallel 
of altitude. 

Patmos is one of the Sporades, and has one or two 
good harbors. There is on it an ancient convent, 
of massive structure, called the Convent of St. John. 
Attached to this convent is a grotto, shown by the 
monks as the abode of the Apostle. The celebrated 
English Oriental traveller, Dr. E. D. Clarke, visited 
Patmos the first of the present century, where he 
spent several days. In addition to the monks of 
the convent, he estimated the number of inhabitants 



103 



VOYAGE IX THE L E V A N T , 



then on the island to have been three hundred. 
There is now said to be a much larger number, en- 
tirely Greek, and miserably poor. 

From this point " we came with a straight course 
to Coos" a long, narrow, and boot-shaped island, 
having an aspect of unusual fertility, " and the clay 
following unto Khodes," as a severe Sirocco met us 
soon after we passed Coos, and our captain deemed 
it prudent to take refuge at a port in the little 
island of Symi, which lies near the coast, about 
thirty miles 1ST. W. of Ehocles. In this desolate 
spot superstition has erected a monastery, from 
which, in the darkness of the evening, we were not 
a little delighted with "the sound of the church- 
going bell," so much reminding us of our own far- 
off homes, and the Christian privileges we had there 
enjoyed. The whole Southern coast of Asia Minor 
has a ragged and repulsive aspect. Near where we 
now lay was " Cnidus,' 1 and it was here the adverse- 
winds commenced that in the end resulted so dis- 
astrously to Paul and his fellow prisoners, Acts, 
27 : 7. tl The wind not suffering us" to proceed, 
we remained for the night. 

The following morning we entered the ancient 
harbor of Rhodes at ten o'clock, A. M. This part 
of the island is about ten miles from the main land. 
We soon rowed to the shore to visit the remarkable 
fortifications and palaces of the Knights of St. John 



VOYAGE IX THE L £ V A N T . 



109 



of Jerusalem, and from which they were expelled 
by the superior power of the Turks, A. D., 1522, 
after sustaining an heroic siege, having held the 
island from 1510. Erected of stone, many of 
these palaces and houses seem to have remained 
just as they were left by the Knights. Numbers 
of them bear the armorial shields of the nations, 
English, French, and others, to which they belonged. 
We were quite astonished at the great number of 
stone balls, of various sizes, which lay around in 
every direction, it would seem, just as they fell from 
the bombs of Suleiman the Magnificent three hun- 
dred and fifty years ago. " We measured some of 
these balls, which were more than twenty inches in 
diameter ! 

This once fertile and populous island, like every 
other green spot, that has been touched with the 
blighting hand of the Turk, has received its mil- 
dew, has withered, and lost nearly all its glory. 

It was the afternoon of the twentieth of December 
when we left the island, and the following day we 
cast anchor in the roadstead of Larneca on the south 
side of Cyprus. This island seems even more 
miserable than Ehodes. We landed to make some 
explorations, and here, for the first time, we saw 
buildings erected with szm-dried brick, composed of 
clay, and cut straw, reminding us of the "hard 
bondage" of Israel of old in Egypt. We walked 



110 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT. 



over extensive fields, filled with, broken pieces of 
ancient brick, lime, marble, and other relics, the 
ruins of a large city. Many excavations to obtain 
cut stone, columns, and specimens, for building pur- 
poses, have been made. In the evening we again 
proceeded on our voyage. 

Lands and scenes classic had faded from our sight 
to be superseded by others more affecting ; and our 
first impression of scenes sacred— Lebanon, — seen by 
us as we approached the Syrian coast, in all its ex- 
tent and glories, quite exceeded in grandeur all our 
anticipations. 

Early in the morning of the twenty-second of 
December we came in sight of the lofty ranges of 
Lebanon, that " goodly mountain" which Moses so 
much wished to behold. A severe sirocco gale had 
drifted us during the night considerably farther 
north than our direct course would have been, but 
as we ran down for Beirut, we had a fine view of 
Lebanon, the snowy top and sides of Jebel Makmel 
in the north, ten thousand five hundred feet high, 
apparently running nearly east and west, and the 
hardly less beautiful Jebel Sunnin, nine thousand 
five hundred feet high, which lies in full view from 
Beirut. These fine ranges we thought almost ri- 
valed the monarch of the Alps — Mont Blanc. Our 
anchorage reached, a serene and beautiful sky over 
our head, and a delicious and balmy atmosphere 



V Y A G E I N THE LEV A X T . 



in 



around us, "Pilgrims" as we were, we thought of 
that band of more worthy men and women who, 
two hundred and twenty-nine years before, had 
landed on the then dark, wintry, and inhospitable 
shores of Cape Cod in our far-off western home. 
They found no shelter on the shore from the freezing 
blast, no Christian sympathy in their severe trials, 
no friendly welcome ; but we were destined to have 
reached to us the ready hands, and receive the 
warm-hearted greetings of our own countrymen, 
who compose the noble band of missionaries of the 
American Board of missions at this interesting sta- 
tion and its vicinity. But such men as Jonas 
King, pursuing his work of faith on that difficult 
and unpromising, but not to be abandoned field, 
Greece - Eli Smith, and Whiting, and De Forrest 
at Beirut : with those already named at Smyrna 
and Constantinople ; and others, at these several 
stations, equally worthy, whose names cannot here 
be enumerated, need not " letters of commendation" 
from us. They constitute a class of intelligent, ur- 
bane, and Christian gentlemen and ladies, of learned, 
pious, sagacious and devoted missionaries, who, by 
their teaching, their example, and their schools, 
their labors in translating and printing the Bible in 
the various languages of the East, in the prepara- 
tion and publishing of elementary as well as classical 
books, for the education of the rising generation, 



112 



VOYAGE IN THE LEVANT, 



are laying the foundations broad and deep for the 
triumph, of the pure Gospel, and an elevated Chris- 
tian literature ; which will carry down their names 
to the grateful homage of unborn millions, and 
which now should secure for them the confidence, 
the sympathy, the prayers, and the support of all 
the churches they represent. 



CHAPTER XII. 



BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES — ARABIC SERMON, 

Beirut— Its Pleasant Situation— Walls — Suburbs — American Missionaries— The 
Karob — "Husks that the Swine did eat :" Found in the Bazars— A Sabbath 
Valued— Dr. Smith's Arabic Sermon. 

Beirut was to ns one of the most picturesque and 
agreeable spots we had seen in the East. The walls 
which surround the town on the land side, have an 
imposing appearance, and are in good condition. 
The castle before the anchorage is in ruins. The 
most agreeable feature in the landscape, is the sub- 
urbs, situated on the high, sandy, yet cultivated 
promontory at the south, and west of the city walls. 
The verdant and terraced gardens and comfortable 
habitations give to it more of the aspect of Europe 
than of Asia, and present a grateful appearance to 
the eye of the weary voyager. Here we landed at 
the distance of more than a mile from the western 
gate of the town, and were conducted to a comfort- 
able house kept by a Maltese, the " Hotel de Bel- 
levue" 

The chapel, printing establishment, and dwellings 
of our American Missionaries, were in this quarter. 



114 



BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES. 



and we lost no time in calling upon them with our 
letters. Here ten days were agreeably occupied in 
visiting friends, and in the needful preparations for 
our two months' excursion through Palestine, and 
over the desert into Egypt. In its bazars we first 
saw the pods of the karob for sale. This bean of 
the karob-tree is doubtless the " husks that the swine 
did eat" referred to in Luke, 15 : 16. The name has 
come down from scripture times, and it seems a pity 
that the word is not better translated into our ver- 
sion, so as to be understood by the general reader. 
The tree is common in Syria. It grows quite large. 
I saw it also in Malta. The bean much resembles 
the locust bean, growing from four to eight inches 
long, and full an inch wide. I procured specimens 
of them here, and subsequently at Jerusalem, where 
they are exposed for sale in the bazars. The pod 
is nearly black, sweet to the taste, and when fresh, 
has, beside the bean, a sweet pulp or syrup in it. 
The Arabs make a pleasant drink by putting them 
into their water. The poorer people eat them, and 
it is said that they are still given to the swine to eat. 
The Arabic name is Kharub, the scripture or Greek 
name Kerateon, from the horn-like ends of the pod. 

We felt that it was a kind ordering of Providence 
that we could spend two Sabbath days near the 
mission families, at this interesting station, and en- 
joy their cherished society and religious privileges, 



BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES. 115 

To the Christian pilgrim in the Orient, a Sabbath 
at one of these mission stations is like an oasis in 
the desert to a weary wanderer on its wastes — long 
deprived of Evangelical public religions worship, 
his heart beats warm in sympathy with the sweet 
Psalmist of Israel, and with him he is ready to ex- 
claim, "How amiable are Thy tabernacles, Lord 
of hosts ! — For a day in thy courts is better than a 
thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the 
house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of 
wickedness." Even to the truly pious, how many 
Sabbaths spent amid our abounding religious privi- 
leges, seem to leave no vivid and practical impress- 
ion on those who enjoy them. Not so, a Sabbath 
among our missionaries, in these lands of moral 
darkness. 

Those who sympathize with, and pray for the 
missionary, will love to catch even a faint glimpse 
of the processes of his responsible work, and I 
would fain conduct the reader to the mission chapel 
and its services. 

The first of our Sabbaths here followed the day 
of our arrival. It was a bright and beautiful morn- 
ing. The sea, before our apartments, on whose an- 
gry surges we had been so lately tossed, was now 
comparatively hushed to repose, and we could look 
far over its wide expanse. The snowy tops of Leb- 
anon, full in our view, were gilded up by the raj^s 



116 BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES. 

of a bright sun, rendering the landscape one of 
impressive grandeur, such as is rarely seen. This 
quiet and suburban part of Beirut seemed a fitting 
abode for our missionaries to prosecute their peace- 
ful vocation. " We -were glad when they said, Let 
us go up to the house of the Lord." The apartment 
fitted up as a chapel for public worship, was the 
ground floor of a part of the house then occupied 
by Mr. Thompson. The room will seat, I judge, 
one hundred and fifty persons. Here the morning 
service, on the Sabbath, is conducted in English, 
and is mainly designed for the Frank or European 
population. I noticed, however, quite a number of 
native Christian Arab attendants on this service. 

The afternoon services are in Arabic, and specially 
designed for the natives. In accommodation to 
Eastern prejudice and custom, the male and female 
portions of the congregation were separated by a 
curtain drawn from the pulpit through the centre 
of the room. 

Having, when in Constantinople, witnessed with 
great pleasure the devout and interesting services 
of the Protestant Armenians, I felt a great desire to 
be present and listen to this service, though it was 
in an unknown tongue. At the hour appointed, a 
goodly number of males, and several females, as- 
sembled and listened with attention and apparent 
interest, to a sermon preached by the Eev. Eli 



BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES. 117 

Smith, P. D., from 1 Tries. 5 : 18, " Pray without 
ceasing." It will doubtless a little surprise the 
preacher, if by chance this should meet his eye, to 
see an attempt to reproduce his sermon, or rather its 
leading heads, here in an English dress, as he is 
entirely ignorant of the fact, that a brother mission- 
ary present took down notes, and handed them to 
me. Imperfectly, as they doubtless do, convey the 
full impression of their original, I think it will yet 
interest the friends of the cause, to have even this 
meagre specimen of the instruction that is so faith- 
fully spread before the minds of those to whom the 
missionary is sent. 

It will be borne in mind that this sermon was ad- 
dressed to auditors who had been educated under 
the corrupt teaching of the Eastern churches, in 
which angels, saints, and especially the Virgin 
Mary, are objects of prayer and important interces- 
sors for the suppliant — their religion, like the Cath- 
olic, consisting much in external pomp and genu- 
flections. 

My chief design, however, in presenting this 
sketch here will be attained, if its perusal shall lead 
the reader more habitually, and with greater impor- 
tunity, to pray without ceasing for the success of 
these and other missionary laborers on their extend- 
ing fields ; and without further remark, I will in- 
troduce here our Arabic sermon. 



118 



BEIRUT AND THE MISSIONARIES, 



Text — 1 Thes. 5: 18, "Pray without ceasing." 
All sects of all religions pray. Something in man's 
nature impels him to pray, and God teaches and 
commands all men to pray. 

I. What is prayer? Prayer is conversation of 
man's spirit with God. (a) It is spiritual, not intel- 
lectual, not lip service, with books or without books, 
not gesture but spiritual, (b) It is with God ; it is 
God's peculiar province to hear prayer. What- 
soever we pray to is our trust — is our God; we may 
not pray to creatures ; he forbids it. (c) It is con- 
versation ; not committing to memory a psalm, nor 
hearing a sermon, nor meditation. 

II. Kinds of prayer, (a) mental ; (b) audible. 

1. Individual, and this should be secret, so com- 
manded by our Lord. We have also his example, 
and the example of David, Daniel, and others. 

2. Family prayer ; this is important. 

3. Social prayer. This must not be mere form, 
with the thoughts on all things rather than God. 
It may be with a book, or without a book of prayer. 
Not in an unknown tongue, but in it all hearts 
should ascend together. 

III. Times and places of prayer. God has not 
specified days and places and number of times. 
God does not say at what time ; in the morning, 
noon, sun-set or midnight, (Islamic hours.) 

TV. Intercessor in prayer. We need one, but 



B E I R U I A X D i H E MISSIONARIES. 



119 



who shall he be ? (a) Not a mere man ; he needs 
an intercessor too, be he a saint in heaven or on 
earth, (b) Not one who is not human ; we would 
not trust his sympathy so well. Angels then will 
not do. (c) The man Christ Jesus, who is also God, 
alone can fill this office, and God hath appointed 
him to it. 

V. Benefits of prayer, (a) "We receive much 
that we need by means of prayer : 1. God has 
promised this in many places in his word. 2. Man 
has often found by experience that God is faithful 
to perform this promise, (h) Prayer humbles us, 
(c) Prayer exalts us. 

Application. — Do we pray ? Much that is called 
prayer is otherwise ; there is but little true prayer 
about us here. True prayer can be offered only 
by God's aid. The prayer of the sinner determined 
to continue in his sins is offensive. 

Eepenting of sin, believing in God, approach him 
through Christ Jesus, and pray without ceasing, 



CHAPTER XIII. 



ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS OX MOUNT LEBANON. 

The Layard Marbles: their chief value to the Christian — Sennacherib's Doom 
— Monuments in the British Museum, and Palace of the Louvre — Ride to 
Nam- El Kelb— Our Company— Doctor De Forrest— Rev. W. F. Williams— 
St. George and the Dragon — The Sides of Lebanon — Maronite Villages — 
Numerous Convents — Arrival at the Xahr El Kelb— Roman Mile Stone — 
The Various Monuments : Dr. Anthoirs mistake concerning them — Sculp- 
tures in the Limestone Rock — Egyptian Monuments — Assyrian, counterparts 
of those in the British Museum: their Wonderful Preservation — The Dog 
River — Turkish and Arabic inscriptions — Return to Beirut — Rich reward 
for our toil. 

It has long been known that ancient monuments 
of a remarkable character exist in Asia Minor, 
and in Syria, on a spur of Lebanon, a few hours' 
ride north of Beirut. The most remarkable of those 
at the last-named locality, are neither Egyptian, nor 
Grecian, nor Eoman, and conjecture had attributed 
to them an Assyrian origin, which the discoveries 
of Mr. Layarcl, on the banks of the Tigris, have 
verified. 

The announcement of those discoveries, and the 
subsequent arrival in England and deposit in the 
British Museum of a large number of specimens of 
Assyrian sculpture, have greatly increased the pub- 
lic interest in these monuments. 



ASSYRIAN M X U M E S T S . 



121 



The " Layard marbles" are the first fruits from 
the entombed ruins of the old Assyrian empire, 
whose very existence had been all but forgotten, 
before the annals of authentic history began ; but, 
after a slumber of twenty-five centuries, their his- 
tory seems destined to a resurrection and a record, 
as authentic as that of Egypt or Greece. 

Their relation to the Bible, however, clothes 
these monuments with their chief importance, in 
the estimate of the Christian. We believe that, in 
this aspect, the designs of Providence in their pre- 
servation and discovery, are now just beginning to 
be seen. Nearly all that is reliable in history, in 
regard to the existence, extent, power and con- 
quests of a vast empire, every vestige of which 
seemed to have been blotted from existence, has 
hitherto been found in the sacred records. In those 
records, we learn the fearful agency which the des- 
pots who swayed that ancient colossus of the north 
had in the extirpation of the ten tribes, and in op- 
pressing Judah. The fearful judgment which befell 
the army of Sennacherib, recorded in II Kings, 19 : 
35, is supposed to have been one of the principal 
causes which led to the destruction of the empire. 
At that early period, prophetic vision had uttered 
its maledictions against Assyria : " I will show 
the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy 
shame ; I will cast abominable filth upon thee, 

6 



122 



ASSYRIAN MO N U M E X T S 



and make thee vile, and it shall come to pass that 
all they that look upon thee, shall flee from thee, 
and say, 1 Nineveh is laid waste. Thy shepherds 
slumber, King of Assyria ; thy nobles shall dwell 
in the dust : thy people is scattered upon the moun- 
tains, and no man gathereth thee.' " 

"When in London, we attentively examined the 
Layard slabs soon after they were deposited in the 
British Museum. They are executed in bas-relief, 
and appear to be historic in their design. While 
their sculptures reveal a high degree of progress in 
the arts at the early period in which they were exe- 
cuted, many of the subjects which they portray — 
war and its concomitants — publish the dark tales 
of human depravity, and prove no less certainly 
than the Word of God, that the fearful lesson which 
the deluge should have impressed on all subsequent 
generations, was soon effaced, and that again " the 
earth was filled with violence.' 1 

But these monuments of Assyria do not consist in 
mere sculptured blocks or slabs of stone. They 
present to the eye long records inscribed in wedge- 
form, or arrow-head characters, the key to decipher 
which, has not yet been found. The investigations 
of the learned and acute, it is hoped, will soon ar- 
rive at the desired result. 

At the time we examined these interesting relies, 
we hod before us all that we ever expected to see 



ON MOUNT LEBANON. 



123 



of the works of that long-forgotten race, the As- 
syrian, save the few which had found a resting- 
place in the Palace of the Louvre in Paris. Months, 
however, rolled on, and by the good hand of our 
Heavenly Father's guidance, we found ourselves 
under the shadow of Lebanon, safely at anchor in 
the roadstead of Beirut, and on the confines of that 
land of wonders, Palestine. 

A carefully-written contract with two competent 
Dragomen, executed in the presence of the Ameri- 
can Consul, providing for everything requisite for 
our entire journey, tents, cot-becls and bedding, 
stores and canteen of cooking utensils, and last, 
though not least, our worthy old Xubian cook, ex- 
hibited all to our satisfaction. One item alone re- 
mained to be tested previous to our entering upon 
the long journey before us. This was the trial of 
our horses. 

Our Missionary friends had planned for us a day's 
excursion to the Xahr el Kelb, or Dog Eiver, about 
three hours north of Beirut on the sea shore, the 
ride also furnishing opportunity to test the qualities 
of our animals. We set off at an early hour, ac- 
companied by Doctor De Forrest and the Eev. W. 
F. Williams, subsequently removed to Mosul, on 
the banks of the Tigris. Our party formed, when 
all mounted, quite a cavalcade. We passed directly 
around the city walls, bevond which, at the dis- 



124 



ASSYRIAN M N U M ENTS 



tance of a mile, we reached a massive stone founda- 
tion some twelve feet high, which, would seem to 
have once formed the base of an old crusader's 
tower. The side next the road has some soapy 
stains. This has the honor of being designated as 
the place where St. Greorge washed his hands after 
he had killed the dragon in the field adjacent. The 
spot where that achievement occurred, has been 
seized upon by the Mohammedans in their zeal to 
monopolize sacred places, and is dignified with a 
3fosk. One would think they would hardly care to 
perpetuate this legend of the Crusaders, which 
seems designed to portray the triumphs of Christian- 
ity over the dragon Mohammed. 

Pursuing our ride, as we crossed a small moun- 
tain stream, the horse of one of our ladies very de- 
liberately laid himself down in the water, in spite 
of the urgent expostulations of his fair rider ; but a 
wet foot or a wet coat are trifling matters with a 
traveller in this region. 

The sides of Lebanon present a naked and sterile 
aspect, yet there are many villages to be seen, oc- 
cupied principally by Maronites, and other Chris- 
tian sects. Their houses are of stone. The steep 
slopes of the mountain ridges are frequently ter- 
raced. The mulberry tree is extensively cultivated 
in this region, for producing silk. Convents are nu- 



ON MOUNT LEBANON. 125 

merous on the ridges ; yon may count a dozen in 
view at one time. 

Before mid-day we arrived at the place of our 
destination. This high and rocky spur of Lebanon, 
which hangs over the Mediterranean in a precipice, 
is skirted on the north by Dog Eiver, the ancient 
Lycus. On ascending the hill, the first object of 
antiquity we met with, was a prostrated Eoman 
mile-stone, with inscriptions. We soon came to the 
monuments, some of which are referred to in vol. 
II. of Mr. Layard's " Nineveh and its remains.' 7 
They have generally been confounded, and Dr. An- 
thon in his Classical Dictionary, under the article 
SesostriS) has fallen into the common error in refer- 
ence to them ; whereas there are several distinct 
monuments, which we shall attempt, though imper- 
fectly, to describe. 

They are all cut conspicuously on the perpen- 
dicular face of the limestone rock, at different ele- 
vations, but near to what would seem to have been 
the early chariot track over this rocky ledge. The 
present path below, is near to the verge of the pre- 
cipice. It was excavated by order of the Eoman 
Emperor Antoninus. 

The first monument in the series, and doubtless 
the most ancient, is Egyptian, and generally referred 
to the time of Sesostris, one thousand three hundred 
years before Christ. The external sculpture of the 



126 



ASSYRIAN M N U 31 ENTS 



" Cartouche," or tablet, is perfect. The hieroglyph- 
ical figures are visible, but nearly effaced by the 
attrition of the winds, and the damps of their ex- 
posed situation. They are, however, sufficiently 
distinct to leave no doubt of their identity, and are 
a monumental proof of the invasions of that early 
conqueror. 

The next monuments in the series are the Assyr- 
ian. Of these there are several. They are executed 
in bas-relief, perfect counterparts of some of those 
in the British Museum. They represent the king, 
alone, attired as in the Layard slabs ; the cap, or 
tiara, truncated cone-shaped, with a short horn on 
the top. One might veil infer, as we did, that both 
were executed by the same artist. They present 
the side view of an erect, full length, and fine figure. 
The tablets or panels on which they are sculptured, 
are about three feet by seven. Across the legs are 
long inscriptions or writing, in the wedge form, or 
arrow-head characters. Exposed as they have been 
to the weather, for twenty-five centuries, it may 
well be looked upon as a remarkable providence 
that these inscriptions should be at all legible. Yet 
one of them in particular is perfectly readable. 

As there were several Assyrian invasions, per- 
haps these inscriptions, when deciphered, will prove 
to be a record of those events, in the order of their 
occurrence. I venture this suggestion, and will 



OX MO U NT LEBANON. 



127 



merely add, that the circumstance of some of the 
tablets being more perfect than others, would go to 
confirm in a measure the conjecture. 

These singular pieces of sculpture have been the 
wonder of mankind for more than twenty centuries, 
from Alexander the Great to our own times, with 
none to explain their origin. The Kev. Henry 
Maundrell, chaplain to the English Factory at 
Aleppo, in prosecuting a journey to Jerusalem, was 
here on the 17th of March, A. D. 1696. In noticing 
these monuments in his journal, " In passing this 
way," he says, " we observed in the sides of the 
rock above us several tables of figures carved, which 
seemed to promise something of antiquity ; to be 
satisfied of which, some of us climbed up to the 
place, and found there some signs, as if the old way 
had gone in that region before Antoninus cut the 
other more convenient passage a little lower. In 
several places hereabouts we saw strange antique 
figures of men, carved in this natural rock in mezzo 
relievo, and in bigness equal to life." 

As we gazed upon them, they produced a strong 
impression that there were deep designs of Provi- 
dence in their preservation. The wrath of these 
conquering Assyrians shall be made to praise the 
Lord. I seemed to hear him saying to each of 
them, as to Cyrus, " I girded thee, though thou hast 
not known me." The intimation of the Prophet 



128 



A S S Y II I A N M ONUMENTS 



Isaiah, in II Kings, 19 : 23, in regard to the way 
that the invading armies of Assyria entered Pales- 
tine, has a confirmation most emphatic : " By thy 
messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast 
said, with the multitudes of my chariots, I am come 
up to the heights of the mountains, to the sides of 
Lebanon.'' 1 

The next in the series of these monuments is a 
niche, or more than one, of about the size of the 
others, but now empty, having been once filled by 
a metallic tablet or inscription. This was probably 
the monument of Alexander, or one of the Roman 
emperors. 

As we descended the road (we might as well say 
stairs) on the north, we came to a kind of pedestal 
on the verge of the precipice. Deep down in the 
waters of the Mediterranean below is seen a large 
stone block, said to be a sculptured wolf or dog, 
and which gives the present name — " Dog River'' 
to the ancient Lycus (Wolf). We thought we could 
see the outlines of an animal on the block. At the 
foot of the promontory we reached the river, and 
following up its course a short distance, came to a 
long Turkish or Arabic inscription, but which none 
of our party were able to read. This completes 
the enumeration of these remarkable monuments. 
We returned to Beirut, feeling that the fatigues of 



O N M D N T L E B A X N . 



129 



the clay had been richly rewarded in what we had 
seen.* 

* We have received a letter from Mr. Williams, written at Mosul, 
in which he conveys highly interesting intelligence of the progress 
which is made in deciphering the inscriptions found on the re- 
cently-discovered monuments of the old Assyrian empire. 

"Across the river," he says, "the excavations of Koriunjuk 
continue, but no new wonders are revealed. But those hereto- 
fore uncovered are beginning to yield up their long-imprisoned 
secrets, and the mystery of the arrow-headed characters is 
rapidly becoming no longer a mystery. The persevering labors 
of Col. Rawlinson are yielding a rich harvest of collateral proof, 
to the minute accuracy of the Scriptural record. 

" He has found a full record of the Assyrian monarchs con- 
temporary with the Jewish kings from David to Zedekiah, and 
evidence of diplomatic intercourse. He specially mentioned the 
names of Jehu and Menahem, but the deciphering work is but 
begun. 

" Of Sennacherib's own account of his campaign against Heze- 
kiah, he is preparing a translation for publication, I suppose. 
It is found on one of the bulls at Koriunjuk, and is very long 
and minute. Sennacherib's portrait is there also, taken by his 
artist from the life ; but those who captured his palace after- 
ward vented their rage by cutting off his hands and his face — 
pretty essential parts of a satisfactory portrait, even in full length. 
However, it puts one quite back to Scripture scenes and times, 
to know that the particular carved slab on which you look was 
in its day a verisimilitude of that insulter of Jehovah. It would 
afford me great pleasure to escort your party thither, and show 
you the wards of Sennacherib's palace." 

6* 



CHAPTER XIV. 



SIDO^, SAEEPTA AND TYEE. 

Lebanon Mountain Range — Anti-Lebanon — Expenses of travelling in Palestine 
— Departure from Beirut — St. George and the Dragon — Villages and Olive 
Groves — River Damur— Perils of a fellow-traveller — Neby Yunas— Arrival 
at Sidon — A night with American Vice-Consul Ibrahim Nukhly — Productions 
around Sidon — Journey resumed — A Roman milestone — Distant view of 
Sidon — Arrival at Sarepta — Lunch at a fountain — Elijah's sojourn here — 
Snowy tops of Anti-Lebanon — Phenician Plain — New Year's Day — Thoughts 
of home — Cross the Leontes — Arrival at Tyre — Entertained for the night— 
Dress of our hostess— Scripture Illustrations— Walks around the town- 
Ruins of a Cathedral — Predictions of Scripture. 

The Lebanon range of mountains extends from 
beyond Tripoli on the north to Tyre, a distance of 
more than a hundred miles. They gradually sub- 
side into the mountainous ranges of Galilee. I 
think the best point of observation is from the Med- 
iterranean, approaching the coast, and at the dis- 
tance of some twenty miles, where you have the 
whole scene before you. The most conspicuous and 
elevated summits rise from seven to ten thousand 
feet above the sea, and are north of Beirut. The 
range runs nearly parallel to the seacoast, at dis- 
tances varying from one to four miles, and often 
spurring quite down to the Mediterranean, in high 
and rocky ridges. The western slope appears naked. 
The once famous cedar forests have disappeared, if 



BID O X , S A |{ E P T A AND TYRE. 



131 



they ever existed on the western slopes. On the 
eastern side, two days north-east of Beirut, there is 
a forest of old and large trees. 

Jebel esh Sheihfy the highest peak of the more 
eastern and parallel range of Anti-Lebanon, is re- 
garded as the Sermon of Scripture ; it rises about 
east from Sidon. Its snowy top, although ten thou- 
sand feet high, is not seen along the Mediterranean 
coast before you reach nearly to Tyre. 

The expenses incident to a tour through Pales- 
tine, depend much upon the taste and composition 
of the travellers. For our party of five persons — 
two gentlemen and three ladies — we paid our Dra- 
gomen one pound sterling for each person per day, 
and half that price for my courier, from the day we 
left Beirut until our arrival at Cairo, in Egypt. 
This sum included the whole expense of every kind 
■ — saddle-horses in Palestine, and camels from Gaza 
into Egypt. We had new beds with cot bedsteads, 
an entirely new canteen of cooking and table fur- 
niture, a competent Nubian man as cook, with an 
abundant supply for our table. 

A party of gentlemen may travel very comfort- 
ably for little more than half that sum per day. 
For our better security, we had the services of two 
Dragomen, 

Having made the best possible arrangements for 
comfort and. protection on our journey, to be per- 



S I D X , 



S A E E P T A A N D TYRE, 



formed in the midst of the rainy season, the day 
fixed upon for our departure was one of peculiar in- 
terest. We were about to enter a land made sacred 
as the abode of patriarchs, prophets and apostles, 
and of Him whose advent they all but subserve. 
"We were to bid adieu, probably to meet no more in 
the flesh, our kind Christian friends comprised in 
the mission families. We were to turn our backs 
upon the pleasant suburbs of Beirut, where to us 
had been more than verified its Augustan name — 
Julia Felix (Happy), and were now to grapple with 
new and untried toils and perils, particularly to the 
ladies of our party, not much inured to the fatigues 
of eight or nine hours on horseback for successive 
days, and over the worst conceivable track in many 
places. 

Our first day's stage was to be to Siclon, not far 
from thirty miles. Eising at an early hour, at half- 
past eight A. M., our baggage was safely swung on 
the sides of our pack-horses, destined to convey it, 
and our party were mounted on those that each had 
selected for the journey, making in all a display of 
nearly or quite twenty horses with muleteers, and 
other appliances. 

We were not a little cheered by the company of 
three or four of our friends, who, to us quite unex- 
pectedly, were at our door, mounted, to accompany 
us some miles on our way. 



S I D O N , 8AREPTA A X D TYRE. 



133 



Passing around the western and southern wall of 
the city, we soon came to a pine grove, on the sandy 
plain south-east of the city, which was originally 
planted more than two hundred years before, by the 
powerful Druze Emir Fakhr ed Din. Maundrell 
describes this, and also a magnificent orange grove 
existing at the time of his visit, in the vicinity of 
" Faccardine's" palace in Beirut. This chief had ac- 
quired his knowledge and taste for architecture and 
vertUj by travelling in Italy. There are many 
monuments still existing in Tyre ? Siclon, and this 
region, which attest his enterprise and power. 

This whole coast is fruitful in traditional legends, 
and we soon came to a spot which disputes with the 
more popular location, some two miles or more 
north of Beirut, for the honor of being the place 
where the warrior hero St, George combatted and 
killed the dragon. The northern location, how- 
ever, was authenticated, and had the honor of a 
Christian Greek church over the spot, to commem- 
orate the event. The church is now converted into 
a Mohammedan mosk. To this we have referred 
in our previous chapter. The legend runs thus : — 
St. George there challenged and killed the dragon 
which was about to devour the daughter of the king 
of Beirut. In our visit to the jSTahr el Kelb, we 
passed very near the spot, but did not stop. Dr. 
Pocock, one hundred years before, visited the place. 



134 SID ON, S A KEPT A AND TYRE, 

and says " near the mosk is a well, and they say the 
dragon -usually came out of the hole, which is now 
the mouth of it." The tale, I believe, was originally 
designed to portray the triumph of Christianity 
over the dragon Mohammed. 

We noticed numerous villages on the sides of 
Lebanon, and at its base fine olive groves and mul- 
berry trees, and in less than three hours we came 
to the site of an ancient town, and passed numerous 
stone sarcophagi. At mid-day we reached the river 
Damur, remarkable as the place where Herod the 
Great caused two of his sons to be executed. The 
fording of this rather rapid stream had been anti- 
cipated with some apprehension. Our baggage 
horses preceded us in safety, and with little harm 
to our luggage. My travelling companion, Dr. S., 
was not as fortunate as the rest of us. In the at- 
tempt to encourage and assist his sister in crossing, 
his horse got into deep water, and plunged him 
into the stream. Wet as he was when he safely 
emerged to the shore, his clothes had to be worn 
until our arrival at Sidon. This was the grand in- 
cident of the day — fortunately the only disastrous 
one of our long journey. The day, although the 
last in the year, was very warm, and no ill conse- 
quences resulted to our medical friend. We spread 
our cloth on the ground, at an old Kahn near the 
river, and ate our lunch. Eesuming our journey, 



SIDON, S A R E P T A A N D T YRK, 



135 



two hours further on we reached Neby Yunas, or 
the place where, according to the legend, the 
prophet Jonas made his landing out of the mouth 
of the monster of the deej3, where he had been em- 
bosomed, and from his perilous three days and 
nights' voyage in the deep recesses of the sea. 

It is a small but fine sandy beach. Here is an 
old Kahn and Mohammedan Wely, as all these 
traditional sacred places are much venerated by the 
Moslems, and are especially monopolized by them 
for mosks or saints' tombs. 

At five o'clock, P. M. we entered the gate of 
Sidon, and were conducted through its narrow, 
crooked and filthy streets, to the house of the 
American Vice-Consul, Ibrahim Nukhly, where we 
spent the night very comfortably. His daughter, 
the child referred, to by Dr. Eobinson, (vol. iii., p. 
417,) had survived the sickness which he forboded 
would be her last, but was now afflicted with an 
abscess ; and we recommended him to take her to 
Beirut for the medical attention of Dr. De Forest. 

The region around Sidon is better cultivated, in 
many respects, than almost any other place in Pales- 
tine. Fine oranges and bananas are here produced. 
The fig trees here, and elsewhere in Palestine, are 
very large ; the fruit we met was, however, small 
and inferior. Sugar cane is also produced here. 
The population is estimated at about five thousand. 



136 



SID OX, SAREPTA AX D TYRE, 



Sidon lias been so often described by travellers, 
that we shall give it but a passing notice. 

The following morning we rose, as usual, at an 
early hour, examined the town and harbor, and at 
nine o'clock, A. M. were on our way to Tyre. 

Soon after leaving Sidon, we had a good view of 
the house occupied by that eccentric character, 
Lady Hester Stanhope. It is two hours' distance 
up on the sides of Lebanon. 

In half an hour we passed a prostrated Eoman 
milestone, with inscriptions. Maundrell had seen 
it in the same position one hundred and fifty-one 
years before. He removed some of the earth that 
had partially embedded it, and copied in full its 
long inscription, which runs thus — IMPEEA 
TOEES C^ESAEES, L. SEPTIMIUS SEVEEUS, 
PIUS PEKTINAX, AUG : &c, &c. 

The remains of a Eoman paved road along the 
whole coast are seen very often. Judging from the 
appearance of the stones as they now lie, it could 
not have been of very smooth surface. 

At one or two hours' distance from Sidon, we 
were much impressed with its conspicuous and 
beautiful appearance, projecting as it does some- 
what into the sea. 

We reached Sarepta at eleven and a half o'clock, 
A. M. Here we dismounted, at a fountain close to 
the sea-shore, and under a large tamarisk tree over- 



S I D O S , S A R E P T A A X D TYRE. 



137 



shadowing it, read the account of Elijah's sojourn 
here with the widow of Zarephath, 1 Kings, xviii. 
Our thoughts ran back twenty-eight hundred years, 
to that period w r hen the prophet had often, doubt- 
less, repaired to this same fountain where we now 
sat eating our lunch of Yankee mince-pie, furnished 
by the ladies of Beirut, and drinking of the pure 
water of the fountain. 

"We re-mounted our horses, and left the fountain 
at Sarepta at twelve o'clock, M. Elijah was at the 
Brook Chereth when u the word of the Lord came 
unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, 
which belonged to Zidon, and dwell there : behold, 
I have commanded a widow woman there to sus- 
tain thee." 1 Kings, 17 : 9. 

This Brook Chereth, Dr. Eobinson suggests, may 
very probably have been the Wedy Kelt, a deep 
gorge from the Wilderness of Juclea, in the imme- 
diate vicinity of Jericho. If that view is correct, 
the journey of the prophet to Sarepta must have re- 
quired five or six days of time, and, as his patrons, 
the ravens, may have failed in it, to furnish him 
with u bread and meat morning and evening," w r e 
may well presume, that he was in extreme exhaus- 
tion, when, on his arrival here, he besought the 
famished widow to bring him a " morsel of bread." 
The narrative is full of deep interest and instruction, 
illustrating a wise sovereignty of the Lord in the 



138 



SI DON, SAREPTA AND TYRE, 



allotments of men, and the safety of those who con- 
fide in his ascertained promises. ^ The barrel of 
meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, 
according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke 
by Elijah;' 

" Many widows were in Israel in the days of 
Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years 
and six months, when great famine was throughout 
all the land. But to none of them was Elijah sent, 
save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman 
that was a widow." Luke, 4: 25, 26. 

At a quarter past one o'clock, P. M., we passed 
over an ancient broken pottery and other debris of 
a considerable town. On one spot we noticed the 
Soman mosaic pavement of an ancient edifice or 
bath. On our left, in the face of the rocky ridge, 
were the openings of numerous excavations of 
tombs. In half an hour more we crossed the deep 
bed of a stream, just below the standing arches 
of a ruined bridge. Here we enjoyed, for the first 
time, a line view of the snowy tops of Anti-Leb- 
anon, "that goodly mountain' that Moses so clearly 
saw at more than one hundred miles distance, and 
so much desired to visit, as he stood upon the high 
table-land east of the Jordan, at the close of his 
eventful life. 

The Phenician plain we found to average gen- 
erallv from one to two miles in width— occasionally 



S I D O N , SAREPTA A X D TYRE. 



139 



it will be considerably more. The numerous in- 
habitants anciently occupying its maritime ports, 
must have depended for their grain and animal 
food very much upon the adjacent region of Galilee, 
(Acts, 12 : 20,) much of the surface being rocky 
and unproductive. A New Year's Day, occupied 
in riding over that part of this plain, lying between 
Sidon and Tyre, with a temperature of 80° to 90°, 
under a clear blue sky and bright sun, was very un- 
like the experience or occupation of our friends in 
the far West. As our sun began to decline be- 
neath the dark waters of the Mediterranean, we 
knew that it was climbing high to its zenith over 
dear and distant loved ones, whose abodes we 
trusted were made cheerful by the accustomed and 
agreeable 11 salutations of the season" — quite sure, 
too, that we should not be forgotten in the greetings. 

At three o'clock, P. M., we crossed the Leontes. 
During the day we occasionally passed herds of 
black goats, feeding upon the rocky ridges under the 
care of shepherds. On more fertile spots we noticed 
fields that had been planted with corn the previous 
year. At a later period of our journey, when at 
Jericho, we noticed there, that the old corn stalks 
sent out fresh shoots for a second year's growth. 

The traveller here has an extensive view of the 
Phenician plain, generally, as before remarked, to 
appearance about two miles wide. We now had 



140 SIDON, SAREPTA AND TYRE, 

Tyre in full view. In the distance, its tall date 
palm trees add much to the imposing effect of the 
site, projecting as it does more than half a mile into 
the Mediterranean. 

At half-past four o'clock, P. M., we reached the 
only gate of the town near the water on the north- 
ern side of the Isthmus, from which we were con- 
ducted to the house of the American Consular 
agent, Yakob Akkacl, a merchant belonging to the 
Greek Church, to whom we had sent forward by 
one of our Dragomen, our letters of introduction. 
Here we were hospitably received, and very com- 
fortably entertained for the night ; and as at Sidon, 
we were made familiar with some of the domestic 
customs of the better classes in the Orient, still 
prevalent, and which illustrated Scripture narrative. 
As the majority of our party were ladies, we prob- 
ably saw much more of the females than we should 
have done in other circumstances. The plaited 
hair of the lady of our host was interspersed with a 
profusion of small gold ornaments and coins. This 
practice is so common among the Arab women, 
that it is said that their dower is usually expended 
on the heads in ornaments of this kind. We were 
often reminded, by this peculiarity of the female 
dress, of Paul's injunction, (I Timothy, 2 : 9.) Our 
hostess was otherwise richly dressed ; we noticed, 
however, that she always left her clogs, or high 



SID ON, SAREPTA AND T Y R E . 



141 



wooden stilt-like shoes (Arabic, Cob. cob,) at the 
door of the large reception room, and entered with 
bare feet. These rooms have a low cushioned 
divan, or platform-seat on three sides ; that fronting 
the entrance is the seat of honor, to which we 
were conducted. Luke 14 : 7, 11. 

Tyre, as it now exists, is a very poor town, with 
no prospect that it will ever again attain any import- 
ance. True, it has recovered a little from the utter 
ruin in which it lay two centuries ago. Maundrell 
described it as 11 a mere Babel of broken walls, pil- 
lars and vaults, there being not so much as one en- 
tire house left, and its inhabitants only a few poor 
wretches harboring in vaults, and subsisting chiefly 
upon fish." The population now is not far from 
three thousand. 

In our explorations of what remains of antiquity 
here, we first repaired to the ruins of a large cathe- 
dral church, supposed by Maundrell and Dr. Eob- 
inson, to have been erected early in the fourth cen- 
tury by Paulinus, the Bishop of Tyre, and in which 
the church historian Eusebius preached the conse- 
cration sermon, as recorded by himself. Consider- 
able part of the eastern end or high altar remains 
standing. We climbed with some difficulty and 
peril the broken steps of a winding passage within 
it to its top. Overhanging as it does the south-east- 
ern part of the present barrier of the town, we had 



142 



SIDON, SAREPTA AND TYRE, 



from it a good view of that part of the island with- 
out the walls. Some of the wretched hovels of the 
town occupy the space once within the body of the 
church. In one of the yards we were shown a 
splendid large and double monolith column of red 
granite, prostrated on the ground. This, with prob- 
ably others similar, once supported and adorned the 
cathedral. They must have been brought from 
Egypt, with great labor and expense. Eeferring to 
the ruins of churches, Maundrell remarks, "It is a 
remarkable fact, that although other parts were to- 
tally demolished, yet the east end we always found 
standing." 

From this ruin, we repaired to the western shore, 
and followed it round northerly to the northern 
harbor, noticing, as we proceeded, with no little in- 
terest, the numerous granite columns which lay in 
the water, at various distances from the land. 

Tyre occupies a prominent place on the prophetic 
and historic pages of the Scriptures. We find its 
riches, power and commercial glory there graphic- 
ally described, and its ruin minutely predicted. It 
therefore challenges from the traveller more than a 
mere casual notice. 

It has been so ably and fully described by Dr. 
Robinson and others, we intended to have com- 
pressed all that we purposed to say in relation to it 
into the present chapter. There are, however, seve- 



S I D N , SAREPTA AND TYRE. 



143 



ral topics of interest to the biblical student, not yet 
settled or exhausted, and particularly that relating 
to the location of continental or Old Tyre, to which 
we wish to refer ; and which will furnish matter for 
a distinct chapter. 



CHAPTER XV. 



ANCIENT TYRE — ITS RELATION TO PROPHECY. 

Tyre the Subject of Scripture Prophecy — Its Ancient Greatness— Predicted 
Destruction — Importance of Discrimination between Continental and In- 
sular Tyre — Prophetic Denunciations against the former — When built — 
Discussion respecting its Site — Dr. Robinson's Opinion — Strabo's Au- 
thority — The Tyrians a Maritime People — Description of the Island — Proba- 
ble changes — Ruins of Ancient Columns — Siege of Xebuchadnezzar — De- 
struction of Insular Tyre by Alexander — Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy. 

Tyre presents to mankind an impressive confir- 
mation of the inspiration of Scripture prophecy. If 
a recurrence to its history, as we find it recorded 
on its annals, is adapted to impart a profound in- 
terest to the investigations of the Biblical student ; 
well may the traveller pause as he treads over 
scenes bearing such affecting evidences of a per- 
vading and retributive Providence in the destiny 
of our race. 

More than seven hundred years before the Chris- 
tian era, Tyre was described by Isaiah chap, xxiii, 
as "a mart of nations, whose antiquity is of ancient 
days — the crowning city, whose merchants are 
princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the 
earth." By means of her extensive commerce, this 
proud eminence she long maintained. 



ANCIENT T Y R E . 



145 



One hundred and thirty years subsequent to 
Isaiah, or five hundred and eighty-eight before 
Christ, the prophet Ezekiel was commissioned to 
utter against Tyre those fearful denunciations winch 
Ave find recorded in the twenty-sixth, twenty -seventh, 
and twenty- eighth chapters of his prophecies. The 
twenty-seventh chapter is especially occupied in 
portraying the vast extent and variety of her com- 
merce and wealth. Jerusalem, in her palmy days, 
had been a formidable rival, and had divided with 
Tyre the commerce of the East ; but now that the 
desolating hand of Nebuchadnezzar had "laid her 
waste," Tyre proudly exults, and says, " I shall be 
replenished." It was in the height of this glorying 
that Ezekiel w<as directed to say, " Thus saith the 
Lord God, Behold I am against thee, Tyrus, and 
will cause many nations to come up against thee, 
as the sea causeih his waves to come up" To a few of 
the predictions in the context, and their fulfilment, 
we shall ask the attention of our readers. If the 
subject be old, it is always fresh, and has not been 
exhausted by those who have trodden the ground 
before us. 

Haughty and secure in her towering walls and 
impregnable defences, the prophetic voice says to 
her, "I will cause many nations to come up against 
thee, they shall destroy the walls of Tyros, and 
break down her towers; I will scrape her dust from 



146 



A X C I E X i T VR£, 



her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall 
be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of 
the sea — they shall lay thy stones, and thy timber, 
and thy dust in the midst of the water — though 
thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found 
again, saith the Lord God." Every one of these de- 
nunciations has been literally fulfilled ! It is, how- 
ever, important to discriminate between Continental 
or old Tyre, and Insular, or new Tyre, for it was 
specially against the former, that they were directed 
and had their accomplishment. 

Josephus informs us that Tyre was built two hun- 
dred and forty years before the building of Solo- 
mon's Temple. There was obviously a very early 
settlement upon the island, which now constitutes 
its site, as well as upon the continent. This fact has 
doubtless occasioned some indistinctness in its early 
annals. The local position of continental Tyre, has 
been a theme of considerable interest to the anti- 
quarian, and involves a very important question to 
the Christian, in its relation to the fulfilment of 
Scripture predictions. Strabo says it was situated 
thirty stadia south of insular Tyre. This has led to 
the conclusion that it was in the immediate vicinity 
of the fountains of Ras-El-Ain, which are about an 
hour, or three miles distance upon the plain south- 
east of Tyre. Dr. Robinson remarks : "It probably 
lay on the south of these fountains, along the coast, 



ITS RELATION TO PROPHECY. 



147 



and the hill in that quarter may perhaps have been 
"its citadel.' ' We think there are insuperable diffi- 
culties in adopting this theory ; and that we are to 
look for the location of old Tyre on the continent, 
in close proximity to the mole of Alexander, and 
that part of the plain east of it. Strabo was nearly 
a cotemporary of Josephus. His account was writ 
ten not far from four hundred years subsequent to 
the conquests of Alexander, by whom every vestige 
of the old city had been removed in the construc- 
tion of his mole. Strabo's information, although 
obtained on the spot, was entirely traditional, and 
perhaps from very questionable sources. 

It is obvious that no maritime place can obtain 
commercial importance without a convenient har- 
bor or anchorage for its shipping. The Tyrians 
carried on an extensive trade with Cyprus, Khodes, 
and the more distant islands of the iEgean, and ports 
on the coasts of Asia Minor, as well as with Egypt 
and northern Africa. Her vessels were doubtless 
of the largest size then known to commerce, as well 
as commanded by men of talent and enterprise. 
The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were her 
mariners, and the wise men of Tyre her pilots and 
shipmasters. It was only under the lee of the 
Island of Insular Tyre that any adequate or safe 
anchorage could be found. Promont Album would 
afford no protection from the power of the sirocco 



148 



ANCIENT TYRE, 



or winter tempests. We therefore assume that the 
marine of Tyre was here alone to be found. From 
what we know of Oriental habits, we are warranted 
in the inference that the city would naturally be lo- 
cated in the immediate proximity of its shipping. 
The Island proper is about a mile in length. It 
lies parallel with the shore of the main land, and 
distant half a mile from it. 

Dr. Eobinson has suggested that " it was perhaps at 
first a mere ledge of rocks ; and inside of this, the 
island was formed by the sand washed up from the 
sea." We derived an impression directly the reverse 
of this. We apprehend that the island was originally 
of considerably larger extent than it is now. He 
well remarks, that u the western coast of the island 
is wholly a ledge of rugged picturesque rocks, in 
some parts fifteen or twenty feet high ; upon which 
the waves of the Mediterranean dash in ceaseless 
surges." These naked rocks we have little doubt 
were once covered with earth, if not with edifices, 
and formed no inconsiderable portion of the island. 
As we walked along the western shore of the island, 
and to its northern side, we noticed numerous 
columns lying in the water at different distances 
from the shore, and in one or more instances, par- 
ticularly on the north-western side, there are piles 
of columns, the greater part of them broken. To 
appearance they once formed a cluster pertaining 



ITS R E L A T I N T P R l J TI E C Y . 



140 



to some former edifice, which, in the process of ages, 
had been undermined by the " ceaseless surges 5 ' of 
the Mediterranean, as they have beaten with unob- 
structed power upon the peculiarly exposed shore of 
the western side of the island. The question, how- 
ever, to which our attention is particularly directed, 
is not necessarily involved in the fact of the original 
extent of the island. 

The natural relation of things, no less than Scrip- 
ture predictions and their fulfilment, point us to the 
main land in proximity to the artificial isthmus of 
Alexander, and to that directly east of it, as the site 
of Paloe Tyrus. There " her walls and her towers" 
enclosed an area, which doubtless included the little 
rocky eminence of El Ma-shuk half a mile east, and 
terminating at the sea, so as to protect her shipping 
at their anchorage under the island. 

Some adequate impression of the strength of 
Tyre at this time, may be inferred from the fact 
that the whole power of Nebuchadnezzar, with his 
"army of many nations," was successfully resisted 
for thirteen years, Ezekiel, 29 : 17, during which 
the very soldiers of his army, in the long siege, be- 
came old and infirm — "every head was made bald, 
and every shoulder peeled." It was in the progress 
of this long siege, and as the prospects of its ter- 
mination became more desperate, that the Tyxians 
removed their most valuable effects to the adjacent 



150 



ANCIENT TYRE, 



island, and there established and fortified them- 
selves ; so that when, at last, the old city was cap- 
tured, the victors found nothing to reward their 
toils, Ezekiel, 29 : 18, and could only exhaust 
their vengeance on naked walls. The process of 
removing their goods and valuables to Insular Tyre, 
would seem to have been carried on unobstructed 
by the besieging army, which could not have been 
done, had the old city been three to five miles 
distant. 

The ruins of the old and devoted city appear to 
have lain undisturbed for the period of two hun- 
dred and forty years, and the prophecies against it 
but half accomplished ; but now the time arrives 
when " the Scripture must be fulfilled." The im- 
petuous and victorious hosts of Alexander the Great 
sweep undelayed around the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, until Insular Tyre is reached. She alone 
refuses to submit to the monarch's sway, and bids 
defiance to his power. 

Alexander had but one course to pursue, if he 
would sustain the ardor of his army ; and with un- 
tiring zeal he sets them to the task of constructing 
a mole from the shore to the island, a distance of 
more than half a mile; this occupied his troops, 
we are informed, amid the greatest difficulties and 
discouragements, for seven months. The mole, as 
originally constructed, was not probably more than 



ITS RELATION To PROPHECY. 151 

three or four hundred feet wide. In the process 
of ages, vast quantities of shifting sands have ac- 
cumulated upon it and the adjacent shore. With 
others, we estimated the present width of the mole 
to be full half a mile. In the performance of this 
great achievement, " the wrath of man was made to 
praise the Lord." Though he meant not so, this 
work literally accomplished the predictions of Eze- 
kiel. In the construction of his mole, Alexander 
used the materials which old Tyre afforded to his 
hand — scraping her dust from her, and making her 
like the top of a rock, so that for long ages her site 
has been but a place for the spreading of nets in 
the midst of the sea ; her stones and her timbers, 
and her dust, have been laid in the midst of the 
waters — in fact her exact location is utterly lost to 
mortal ken, so that though the most sagacious eye 
search for her, yet shall she never be found. 

"We find no necessity in the topography of the 
region to infer that the old city should have been 
located at the fountains of Ras-el-Ain, or south of 
them, in preference to that which we have suggest- 
ed, but as we have seen, conversely. It is even 
more than probable that the waters from these foun- 
tains were conducted at a very early period, as we 
now find them, to the Hill El Ma-shuk, to which 
we have alluded. Referring to the invasion of the 
King of Assyria, Shalmaneser, at the period of the 



152 



A N G I EN T T Y RE, 



deportation of the " ten tribes" and the refusal of 
the Tyrians to submit to him, Josephus Ant. 9 : 2 
says, " The King of Assyria returned, and placed 
guards at their rivers and aqueducts,* who should 
hinder the Tyrians from drawing water. This con- 
tinued for five years ; and still the Tyrians bore 
the siege, and drank of the water they had out of 
the wells they dug." There could be no pertinency 
in this, if the city enclosed the fountains. They 
doubtless had all this time, as in the subsequent 
siege of Nebuchadnezzar, free access to their ship- 
ping, and to insular Tyre. 

The interest which gathers around the theme ^ve 
have under discussion is our only apology for our 
extended, perhaps prolix, remarks. In conclusion, 
we would say, that to us it seems utterly incredible 
that Alexander should have used, to any amount 
worthy of notice, the materials of the old city in 
the construction of his mole, if that city was located, 
as Strabo and others have assumed, at a distance 
of three to five miles. Then indeed her dust has 
not been scraped from her, nor has her site been a 
place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the 
sea. "We rejoice, however, in the conviction that 
the word of the Lord stands fast forever, notwith- 
standing all the mistaken inferences man may draw : 

"'There is no river or stream except what flows from the 
aqueduct or fountain. 



ITS RELATI X T Q P R P H E C Y . 1 5 3 

" For thus saitb the Lord God : when I shall make 
thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not in- 
habited ; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, 
and great waters shall cover thee ; when I shall 
bring thee down with them that descend into the 
pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee 
in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of 
old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be 
not inhabited ; and I shall set glory in the land of 
the living, I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt 
be no more, though thou be sought for, yet shalt 
thou never be found again saith the Lord Grod." 

We must here again repeat our convictions of 
the importance of discrimination in the application 
of these predictions. "We apprehend that those 
who have undertaken to illustrate the fulfilment of 
Scripture prophecies in relation to Tyre, have gen- 
erally fallen into an error in their attempts to apply 
these predictions to the insular as well as ancient 
city. Their original and primary application, we 
doubt not, was to old Tyre, and in its fate they had 
their literal fulfilment; while we would not deny 
that, in some of their aspects, the vicissitudes of 
insular Tyre, may have been a secondary theme of 
the inspiring Spirit. 

7* 



CHAPTER XVI. 



THE POKTION OF ASHER. 

Jacob's blessing— Allotment of the Tribe— Journey from Tyre— Visit to the 
Fountains of Ras El Ain— Ladder of Tyre : made by Alexander— Lunch at 
the Fountain of Iskandersund— Crusader's Towers along the Coast— View 
of Carmelfrom Mount Saron— Arrival at Bussah — A Greek Priest: his 
family — Incidents of a night among the Asherites — Wretched fruits of Mo- 
hammedan rule and corrupted Christianity — Journey resumed— Plain of 
Acra: its fertility — Josephus' account — Populousness of Galilee in ancient 
times : now capable of yielding " Royal dainties." 

We read in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, 
that the patriarch Jacob convened his sons around 
his dying couch to receive his parting and prophetic 
blessing. " Every one, according to his blessings 
he blessed them." Concerning Asher he said, " Out 
of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield 
royal dainties." 

To the tribe of Asher, under the allotment by 
Joshua, fell the sea-coast between Tyre and Carmel. 
The finest portion of this inheritance, and that in 
which the predictions of the patriarch had their ful- 
filment, was the rich and salubrious plain which 
lies between the white promontory of Ras-en-Nak- 
ura, the Mount Saron of the Crusaders, on the 
north, and Carmel on the south, having the ancient 



THE PORTION OF AS HER. 



155 



port of Acclio or Acra, about central on the coast. 
To these it is our purpose more particularly to refer 
in a subsequent chapter. 

We now ask the attention of the reader to some 
of the incidents of our journey from Tyre to Mount 
Carmel, which occupied us for two days. The 
whole distance lies within the territory allotted to 
Asher, 

We rose at an early hour, and before nine o'clock, 
had emerged from the lone gate of Tyre, which 
opens on the north side of the mole. We crossed 
to its southern side, and proceeded oyer it to the 
main land. In a previous chapter we have re- 
marked that this artificial isthmus was probably not 
over three or four hundred feet wide, as it was con- 
structed by Alexander. The accumulation of sands 
upon it for twenty -two centuries, have made it now 
full half a mile in width ; at its junction with the 
main land it is much more. In fact this same cause 
has no doubt somewhat diminished the length of the 
mole, as vast quantities of shifting sands have ac- 
cumulated upon, and covered the land for a consid- 
erable distance in from the margin of the Mediter- 
ranean. Immediately east of the mole, the ruined 
arches of an ancient aqueduct are seen running east- 
ward toward El Ma-shuk. Leaving the shore we 
diverged south-eastwardly, and in about forty min- 
utes came to two considerable fountains, now used 



for irrigating the land. In an hour from Tyre, we 
reached the remarkable fountains of Eas El Ain. 
These fountains, four in number, are doubtless of 
very great antiquity. Artificial mason work and 
embankments raise them from fifteen to twenty feet 
above the adjacent plain. The water is conducted 
into them from some concealed source. It flows 
in such abundance as to make quite a mill-stream. 
The water holds in solution a great quantity of 
lime. The percolations from its sides and connect- 
ing acqueduets, have, in the process of long ages, 
formed stalagmites of astonishing size. 

The narrow plain before Tyre, is shut off on the 
south, by a hiak limestone mountain ricl^e which 
overhangs the Mediterranean, in a frightful preci- 
pice six miles distant from Tyre. This is designated 
as Promont Album, from the high and white cliff 
in which it abruptly terminates at the sea. It is 
crossed on its very margin by a narrow, artificially- 
cut passage, for which tradition gives the credit to 
Alexander the Great. It is known as " the ladder 
of Tyre,' 1 under which name it is referred to in the 
Apocryphal writings, and by Josephus. After 
riding up or down the rude stej3s of this passage, 
none will be likely soon to forget the impressions 
made by the adventure. As Ave passed over it, the 
reckless pack-animals of our caravan seemed bent 
on discharging their loads into the abvss below. 



T IT E P O R T ION OF ASHER. 



157 



We reached this pass in two hours and a quarter 
after leaving Tyre. 

On reaching the summit of the promontory, we 
enjoyed an extensive view. Pursuing our journey, 
we soon passed some old Eoman pavement, and at 
twelve o'clock, M., reached the fountain of Isk- 
andersund, where we rested to lunch. During the 
half hour spent there, we undertook, for the benefit 
of future travellers, to clear the approach to the 
fountain, by the removal of the loose stones which 
obstructed an easy access to it. This enterprise we 
noted at the time as the first effort at "internal im- 
provements 3 ' which had been set on foot in the re- 
gion for the last eight hundred years. 

Our ride proved exceedingly rough. At two, P. 
M., we passed an old crusader's tower. Numbers 
of these structures yet remain along the sea-coast. 
At three, P. M., we reached the base of one of 
those rugged mountain spurs which jut down to 
the sea. On the summit of this ridge, we found an- 
other tower of the middle ages, now used as a khan. 
We were standing on the top of Mount Saron, be- 
fore referred to, and had opened to our view an im- 
posing and interesting scene. Before us on the 
south, at the distance of eighteen or twenty miles, 
Carmel rose, exposed to our gaze in its full extent, 
awakening recollections of recorded scenes of deep- 
est interest. At its base all Israel were assembled 



158 



THE PORTION OF ASHER. 



by Ahab, at the suggestion of Elijah, there to test 
the pretensions of the Prophets of Baal. Under its 
shadow flows the Kishon, where after the trial, Eli- 
jah slew the confounded and dismayed priests of 
Jezebel. 

At our feet, and extending to Carmel, was spread 
out the beautiful plain of Asher, or Acra, The 
hills of Galilee gently slope down to the plain, 
which I estimated to vary between six and ten 
miles in width. We descended obliquely the steep 
sides of the mountain, into the plain, and proceeded, 
ere the sun had retired below the waters of the 
Mediterranean, to the miserable village of Bussah, 
situated on the north-eastern border of the plain. 
Here we were to take up our quarters for the night. 
As this village is a specimen of many others, I 
shall attempt very briefly to describe it. The 
houses are mere low hovels, the roofs flat, covered 
with niud, which is rolled hard so as to shed the 
rain. This incumbent mass is sustained by a few 
rude sticks, brush-wood and straw. They have 
steps on the outside leading to the top or roof, and * 
as they are generally contiguous, one can walk over 
ranges of them. One of our dragomen had pre- 
ceded us, and secured for our accommodation a part 
of the best building in the village, the house of the 
Greek Catholic priest. On our arrival we found, 
that, with the use of his broom, he had raised such 



THE PORTION 



OF AS II E B . 



150 



a dust within the premises, as had never before, or 
probably since, been witnessed by its inmates. We 
entered the premises by creeping through a low 
portal, which landed us upon a hard mud floor, 
and found a capacious apartment, the enclosure 
affording accommodations for man and beast. A 
kind of scaffolding was raised some four or five feet 
at one end of the enclosure, and rudely floored. 
This portion of the house was assigned for the ac- 
commodation of our travelling party of five per- 
sons. From it a small opening or window afforded 
us easy access to the roof of our neighbor's house. 
The space below us was that pertaining to the 
quadrupeds of the establishment, while the main 
floor, above described, was occupied by the bipeds. 
On looking around us, we at first felt a little scan- 
dalized at finding our host, the priest, surrounded 
by a number of squalid children with their mother. 
We were, however, ere long, relieved from our un- 
pleasant impressions. Our inquiries ascertained the 
interesting fact that the Greek Catholics, in Syria, 
who are nominally Christian Arabs, have never 
yielded the primitive right of marriage, and have a 
dispensation from the Pope, which sanctions this 
and other deviations from infallible Eome, in their 
creed and practice. 

A small fire was kindled in one comer of the 
room, before which, at night, father, mother and 



160 



THE PORTION OF AS HER. 



children laid themselves down on the mud floor for 
repose. The troublesome European practice of 
undressing at night, is never entertained by the 
Arabs. Two or three of the family were ill with 
fever, and a more wretched scene we have rarely 
witnessed, and they were probably by far the best 
provided family in the village. 

Next to Tiberius, this place bears the palm for 
fleas, as they effectually precluded sleep. The mo- 
notony of the night was a little enlivened by a noc- 
turnal visit from the donkey, below us, to the fire- 
side of the priest. Our elevated floor exempted us 
from the apprehension of a similar compliment from 
Johnny. 

This night among the Askerites left a vivid im- 
pression upon our memories. Such are the wretched 
fruits of Mohammedan rule and corrupted Chris- 
tianity, in that land of promise — that portion of 
Asher, the natural advantages of which, under other 
influences, are well adapted to 1 'yield royal dain- 
ties" to its dwellers. 

We have dwelt longer upon this detail than its 
importance would seem to require, that the reminis- 
cence may admonish us and others of the value we 
should attach to the distinguished mercies we enjoy 
in this Protestant Christian land. 

Breakfasting at an early hour, we bade adieu to 
our host, the Greek priest of Bussah, to whose sick 



T IT E P R T I N OF ASHER. 



1G1 



and forlorn family we were sorry not to be able 
to administer tlie medical treatment they so much 
needed. 

We were on our horses at near eight o'clock, 
ready to prosecute our day's journey over the plain 
of Acra — this "portion of Asher," to Mount Car- 
mel. In the vicinity of Bussah we found many 
olive trees, As we advanced upon the plain , Are 
saw patches of grain sprung up and green in many 
places, while here and there an Arab was engaged 
in ploughing or sowing on other spots ; the soil was 
dark and apparently productive, without, we sup- 
pose, any use of manure for the last thousand years 
at least. But a very small part of this fine plain is 
cultivated at all, and we noticed but two or three 
miserable villages in its whole extent. 

On the left, the gently sloping hills of lower 
Galilee, which belonged to Napthali and Zebulon, 
were green and comparatively beautiful. At the 
base of one of these hills we noticed a single stand- 
ing column. As it was full two miles distant, we 
could not turn aside to ascertain whether other 
ruins were around it. 

There can be no doubt, we think, that Galilee 
has always been the finest portion of Palestine. 
This is especially true, if we include in it the great 
central plain of Esdraelon. It appears to have 
been very populous in our Saviour's time. Jose- 



162 



THE PORTION OF A S H E R . 



phus gives a glowing picture of its fertility and 
populousness. " The soil," lie says, "is universally 
rich and fruitful, and full of plantations of trees of 
all sorts, insomuch that it invites the most slothful 
to take pains in its cultivation by its fruitfnlness : 
it is all cultivated by its inhabitants, and no part 
of it lies idle. Moreover, the cities lie here very 
thick, and the very many villages that are here are 
everywhere full of people, by the richness of the 
soil, that the very least of them contains above fif- 
teen thousand inhabitants." B. W. 3:3. Making 
very large allowances for exaggeration, as well we 
may, how blighted the scene we now behold ! 

At half past nine o'clock we passed a large orange 
orchard on our right, richly loaded with its golden 
fruit. We often sigh for one of the delicious or- 
anges of Palestine — truly " royal dainties." A little 
further on we passed the lone and fine mansion of 
a Pasha now in Constantinople. Another half hour 
brought us to an acqueduct, for the conveyance of 
water to Acra. The arches were of burnt brick, 
some of them high and well constructed. We have 
noticed that one or more recent travellers have re- 
ferred to this as a work of antiquity, though evi- 
dently a modern structure. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ACRA AND CARMEL. 

Destitution of Habors on the coast — An argument oppo-ed to a literal return of 
the Jews — Acra in the distance : the most important seaport in Palestine : 
Accho its ancient name : change to Ptolemais : original name retained by 
the people — Old places identified — Paul at _ Ptolemais— Historic events: 
called St. Jean d'Acre by Crusaders: Vespasian and Titus there: taken by 
the Saracens : rescued by Richard Coeur d'Lion : the immense loss of life 
involved — Richard's treaty with Saladin — Siege by Napoleon — Acra de- 
fended by Sir Sidney Smith — Great loss of life by the French — Arrival at 
Acra: visits in the city— Departure for Carmel — Bay of Acra — River Belus: 
its sands first used in the manufacture of glass— Forded without difficulty — 
Ride along the Bay — River Kishon — Forded in safety — Anchorage under 
Carmel — Kaifa — Carmelite Convent : richest monastery in Palestine. 

It is a fact worthy of note, that there is not one 
safe and good harbor on the entire coast of Syria 
and Palestine, south of Tripoli. The anchorage at 
Haifa, under the promontory of Carmel, is probably 
the most secure. Next to it, Beirut affords a toler- 
ably good shelter for shipping. The Sirocco or 
winter winds, which blow from S. W. to N. E. are 
those which there bring storms, with peril and dis- 
aster to the mariner. 

Considering the tendencies of the Jews to com- 
mercial pursuits for long ages, this destitution of 
harbors upon the coast of Palestine impressed us as 
one among many other arguments, against the 



164 



ACRA AND CARMEL. 



theory so fondly cherished by many, of a literal res- 
toration of that wonderful people to the promised 
land. As things now are, we have a strong con- 
viction that all attempts to bring about such a re- 
sult, will prove in the end abortive. It is a happy 
circumstance, that the American Board, in their 
missionary efforts, have carefully avoided all en- 
tanglements of that kind. 

Some, we hope well-meaning people in this coun- 
try, have recently embarked in an effort to engage 
the Jews in agricultural pursuits. The vicinity of 
the pools of Solomon, a little south of Bethlehem, 
has been selected as the spot to prosecute the under- 
taking. We hope their zeal, in the good cause of 
Christian missions, will not depend on the success 
of their present enterprise. 

Acra, in the distance of five or six miles, like 
most other Oriental towns, appears to its best and 
great advantage ; the situation is a low, flattened 
promontory. Insecure as it is, the anchorage of 
Acra has been the most important seaport of Pales- 
tine, since the days of the Ptolemies, the first of 
whom adorned it ; and in honor of him its name 
was changed from Accho, its Scripture name, Judg. 
1 : 31, to Ptolemais, by which it was known at the 
period of the Christian era. Like most other places 
in Palestine, which for a time gave place to Greek 
or Eoman names, it is probable that it retained its 



A C R A A N D CAR M E L 



105 



original designation among the common people. 
This circumstance has been the occasion of Drs. 
Eobinson and Smith identifying many interesting 
Scripture localities, the knowledge of which had 
been lost for ages. Here Paul " came from Tyre, 
and saluted the brethren and abode one day," 
Acts, 21 : 7. On reaching its immediate vicinity 
at eleven o'clock, A. M., we were quite surprised to 
find its approach on the eastern or land side, still so 
well fortified, on principles of modern engineering. 

The historic events connected with Acra, are so 
interesting, we shall detain our readers while we 
recur to a few of the most remarkable of them. In 
Scripture, the notices of Acra are very rare. At 
the period of the Christian Era it was doubtless a 
place of very considerable importance. It has a 
prominent place in the account of the wars of the 
Maccabees, and subsequently in those of the Cru- 
saders, by whom it was called St. Jean d'Acre. St. 
John has since that period been its tutelary saint. 

It appears from Judges 1 : 31. that up to that 
period, the Asherites had not driven out its original 
Phenician inhabitants. 

It was at Ptolemais that Vespasian was joined by 
his son Titus. Here they marshaled their cohorts 
and legions, for the conflicts that were to ensue, and 
which resulted in the utter ruin of the Jewish state, 
and sent the wretched remnant that escaped the 



166 



A C R A AND CARMEL. 



sword, the famine and the pestilence, fugitives and 
captives abroad, through the Koman empire, to re- 
main for long ages, " an astonishment, a proverb, a 
by- word among all nations whither the Lord shall 
lead" them. 

Acra fell under the sway of the Saracens, A. D. 
636. It was wrested from them by the first Cru- 
saders, A. D. 1099. After the disastrous battle of 
Hattin on the fifth of July, A. D. 1187, it again 
submitted to the Saracens under Saladin, the intel- 
ligence of w r hose successes in Palestine aroused the 
powers of Western Europe to undertake the third 
Crusade, which was projected by Frederic Barba- 
rossa, Emperor of Germany, Eichard I. of England, 
and Philip Augustus of France. 

After many disasters in Greece, Frederic pene- 
trated Asia Minor, as far as Cilicia, where he died. 
The armies of the Crusaders, in their progress toward 
Jerusalem, had reached Ptolemais, where they en- 
countered a formidable resistance. They environed 
the city many months without accomplishing its re- 
duction, and were incessantly harassed by Saladin, 
who, with his wonted skill and courage, managed 
to succor his troops within the walls. On the sec- 
ond of April, A. D. 1191, Phillip Augustus, with 
a fresh army of French Crusaders, arrived before the 
city, and inspired fresh courage in the besiegers. 
He did not, however, affect its reduction until the 



A C K A A NO C A R M E L . 



167 



arrival of the lion-hearted Richard, to whom was 
reserved the honor of its capture in the following 
July, soon after which, disease compelled Phillip 
to return to France, leaving Richard in the sole 
command of the Crusaders. The sacrifice of blood 
and treasure which these Crusades involved, ap- 
pears almost incredible, In reference to the re- 
duction of Ptolemais, Michaud remarks: "Such 
was the conclusion of this famous siege, which lasted 
nearly three years, and in which the Crusaders shed 
more blood, and exhibited more bravery, than 
ought to have sufficed for the subjugation of the 
whole of Asia. More than one hundred skirmishes, 
and nine great battles, were fought before the walls 
of the city. Several flourishing armies came to 
recruit armies nearly annihilated, and were in their 
turn replaced by fresh armies. The bravest nobility 
of Europe perished in this siege, swept away by 
the sword or disease." 

Other signal victories were secured by the prowess 
of Richard ; but the following year, after penetrat- 
ing to the very hills which overlook Jerusalem, 
finding his troops wasted by famine and fatigue, and 
environed with difficulties, he concluded an hon- 
orable treaty with Saladin, securing to the Christian 
population the possession of Acra, and some other 
seaport towns. This remarkable treaty was ratified 
for precisely three years, three months, three weeks, 



168 



ACRA AND CARMEL. 



three days, and three hours, a mysterious number, 
the design of which is not well understood. It was 
from Acra that Eichard embarked, October, 1192, 
on his disastrous voyage to Europe. The Mamaluke 
Sultan of Egypt took Acra, A. D. 1291, and drove 
out its Christian population. 

Two incidents impart a peculiar interest to the 
English traveller as he visits " St. Jean d'Acre 
its capture by Eichard Coeur-de-Lion, before referred 
to, A. D. 1191, and its defence conducted under the 
direction of Sir Sidney Smith, from the assaults of 
Napoleon. It was on the twenty -first of May, 1799, 
that the French army of the East, under Napoleon, 
raised the siege of Acra, after their trenches had 
been opened sixty-one days, and eight desperate 
assaults made. The French sustained a loss, va- 
riously estimated from three to seven thousand men. 
After raising the siege, Napoleon marched directly 
into Egypt, his plans of Eastern conquest having 
been entirely frustrated. 

Leaving our baggage and muleteers outside, we 
entered the gate of the city and rode through it, 
examining hastily what it has to be seen, in its 
Bazars and streets. The houses are mostly of stone ; 
its streets are narrow, many of them covered arch- 
ways. The walls which surround the city on the 
water side, were in ruins, from the bombardment 
of the English fleet under Admiral Stopford, in 



A C R A AND CARMEL, 



169 



November, 1840, when the town was laid in ruins, 
and Palestine wrested from the Egyptian sway of 
Mohammed Ali, and restored to the Sultan. 

After making our explorations within its walls, 
we left Acra a little before noon, and at the dis- 
tance of half a mile from its gate we spread our 
cloth upon the sand, and ate our lunch under the 
shade of some young date palm trees, standing not 
far from the shore, and in full view of Oarmel, the 
day (January the third) being quite warm. 

At half-past twelve o'clock, P. M. we again 
mounted our horses to pursue our journey. The 
Bay of Acra, formed by its promontory, and that 
of Carmel on its south, is about nine miles wide, 
and two or three in depth. We soon reached the 
river Belus, or Baal, which Niebuhr thinks is that 
referred to in Joshua 19 : 14, 27. Its Arabic name 
is Nahr Naman. Its waters were anciently con- 
ducted by an acqueduct into Acra. The sands on 
its shore were celebrated in ancient times for their 
excellence in the manufacture of glass, the art of 
making which, it is said, was here discovered. The 
stream is rapid. We forded it without serious in- 
convenience at its junction with the bay, our Arab 
muleteers wading on before us, to guide our way 
along the sand-bar at its mouth. Our ride was now 
directly along the sandy shore of the bay, upon 

which were scattered the wrecks of several small 

8 



170 



ACRA AND CARMEL. 



vessels, driven upon it by Sirocco tempests. At three 
o'clock P. M. we reached the Kison, Judges, 5 : 21, 
which here empties into the bay, quite under the 
shade of Carmel. The stirring events, sung by 
Deborah, doubtless occurred some fifteen miles or 
more east of this, on the plains of Esdraelon. 

We forded the river without being wet, or dam- 
aging our luggage, which was more than most trav- 
ellers can say. Our ladies were among the first to 
dash their steeds into the rapid stream, whose waters 
of old overwhelmed the fleeing hosts of Sisera. 
a rp-j^Q ri ver f Kishon swept them away, that an- 
cient river, the river Kishon." 

At three o'clock we reached and passed through 
the small walled town of Kaifa. Above the town, 
on the sides of Carmel, are the ruins of an old 
Crusaders' fortress. 

Vessels lie at anchor here under the lee of Car- 
mel in comparative safety. The narrow strip of the 
plain, on the southern side of the river, including 
this anchorage, probably pertained to Zebulon. 

" Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea; 
and he shall be for an haven of ships," Gen. 49 ; 13. 
We counted fifteen small square-rigged vessels or 
brigs at anchor before the town, as at this season no 
vessel can safely lie at Acra. The commerce of 
the country, which consists chiefly in grain and olive 
oil, is mainly in the hands of the Greek and French. 



A CR A A N D C A li M E L 



111 



At half-past four o'clock, P. M. we reached the fine 
convent of the Carmelite monks, situated on the top 
of Carmel, as it overhangs the Mediterranean, at the 
height of seven to eight hundred feet. The edifice 
is built of light yellowish-colored sand-stone, and 
more resembles an imposing hotel, than anything 
our eyes had beheld for weeks — quite a contrast to 
the humble apartment of the Greek priest of Bussah, 
which we had left in the morning. This is one of 
the richest monasteries in Palestine, and right gladly 
did we dismount to enjoy its hospitalities for the 
night. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



ELIJAH AT CAKMEL. 

Promontory of Mount Carmel— Relations of Elijah— Character of Elijah— The 
name of Carmel: now a naked ridge— Its extent and aspect — Carmelite 
Convent: view from its side: visit to its chapel, and Grotto of Elijah- 
Popular error respecting the slaying of the Prophets of Baal — A night in 
the Convent — Journey resumed — Splendid view from Carmel— Lebanon 
and Anti-Lebanon — Reach Kaifa : tombs in the vicinity — Ride under the 
side of Carmel — Cross the Kison : width of its channel — Balmy atmosphere 
— Plain covered with flowers — Bedouin tents — Lunch on the Hills of Gal- 
ilee — New scenes in view — Elijah and the Prophets of Baal — Plain of Es- 
draelon — " Battle of Mount Tabor" — Kleber and Napoleon— Journey re- 
sumed—A company of mounted Bedouins — Perils escaped — Roughness of 
the ride — Arrival at Nazareth. 

The promontory of Carmel constitutes one of 
the impressive features in the topography of Pales- 
tine ; it derives also a special interest from its con- 
nection with the history of Elijah, whose remark- 
able character as a man of prayer we find recorded 
in the Old, and referred to in the New Testament, 
for the instruction and encouragement of God's 
people through all succeeding ages. " Blias was a 
man subject to like passions as we are, and he 
prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it 
rained not on the earth, (or land, Palestine,) by the 
space of three j^ears and six months. And he 
prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and the 
earth brought forth her fruit, James, 5 : 17, 18, 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL. 



173 



Another prominent trait in the character of Eli- 
jah, was moral courage, an illustrious example of 
which we find narrated in 1 Kings, 18. There 
are few pages in the Old Testament more full of 
instruction, or adapted to awaken a deeper inter- 
est. In its perusal, who has not realized a kind 
of innate desire arising in his bosom to stand 
upon the ground where occurred that tragic scene, 
and climb to Carmel's top and look over that sea, 
out of which arose that "little cloud as a man's 
hand," which betokened a termination of those years 
of drought w r hich had spread dismay and famine 
over the land ? 

The name of Carmel, we are told, indicates a 
country of vineyards and gardens ; to what aspect 
of it the prophet refers when he speaks of "the 
excellency of Carmel," Isaiah, 35 : 2, may be some- 
what questionable. It means literally the vineyard 
of God ; and as the divine name was often used for 
emphasis and eulogy, it seems to commend the 
place for its rich fertility, or scenic beauty in the 
golden age of Palestine. 

Its present appearance is that of a naked and 
somewhat rocky ridge, extending in a south-east 
direction from the Mediterranean until it subsides 
in the hills of Samaria. Its length we judged to be 
at least thirteen to fifteen miles ; its height is prob- 
ably nowhere over eleven or twelve thousand feet. 



174 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL, 



To use a rather groveling illustration, it is, as seen 
in the distance, a regular " hog's back," with its 
head in the south-east. The northern side is in part 
covered with scrub oaks. 

The ascent to the Carmelite Convent, which is 
situated upon its western extremity, is by an oblique 
road or pathway, up and clown, which one can ride 
on horseback without difficulty. As before re- 
marked, this convent is reputed the richest in Pales- 
tine, although it had but eight or ten monks re- 
siding within it. For their well-supplied table, 
commodious apartments and good beds, furnished 
expressly for pilgrims like ourselves, we felt that 
we had substantial reasons to speak well of them. 
The early hour of our arrival there afforded us time 
to make our observations in the convent, and from 
its adjacent localities. 

From the high ground immediately south of the 
edifice, we enjoyed a magnificent view. The site 
of Cesarea is seen in the distance, and a wide extent 
of the Philistine plain. Among the rocks and over 
the surface we found the cyclomen growing in 
abundance ; and we there collected some of the 
bulbs, whose pert little flowers are now flourishing 
in our conservatory, pleasing mementoes of our 
visit. 

Returning to the convent, we were conducted by 
one of the brothers to the church or chapel, which 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL, 



175 



is circular in its form. The covering to the altar is 
made of Persian silk, elegantly embroidered. Un- 
derneath the altar is a grotto, which, we were as- 
sured, was the veritable cave in which the prophet 
Elijah lived, and just as it was left by Tarn! An 
image, or statuette, about two feet high, of the proph- 
et, in rather modernized costume, stands over the 
cave. Not only is this spot consecrated as the 
residence of Elijah, a kindred and more absurd 
tradition is that which points to its near proximity 
on the narrow plain, at the base of the promontory, 
as the locality where Ahab convened the nation, at 
the suggestion of Elijah, to test the claims of the 
prophets of Baal, to which we have before referred. 

We have noticed with no little surprise, that a 
recent intelligent traveller, whose notes have been 
published, and also a writer in one of our most 
wddely-circulated, popular magazines, have, in their 
accounts, followed this improbable tradition. 

The convent is more than twenty miles distant 
from Jezreel, probably twenty-five; and the a]3pro- 
priate location for that scene is doubtless to be 
looked for some ten miles or more eastward from it, 
in the vicinity of the narrow arm of the plain, which 
connects the plains of Acra, with the great central 
plain of Esdraelon, and which, under the shadow 
of Carmel, forms the outlet of the Kison into the 
lower plain. 



176 



ELIJAH AT CARMEL. 



Apart from its greater convenience for the as- 
semblage of the people, the simple fact stated, 

I Kings, 18 : 44, 46, that at the close of the event- 
ful clay, Elijah urged Ahab to hasten for shelter 
from the impending storm, and that the prophet 

II girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the 
entrance of Jezreel," would seem to satisfy any one 
who took the Bible for his guide-book, that tradi- 
tion is here in conflict with its statements. 

Refreshed by our quiet night's repose, we rose at 
an early hour, breakfasted, and at a quarter before 
eight o'clock were on our horses, ready to leave the 
convent, and pursue our day's journey to Nazareth. 
The sky above and around us, the sea and the 
landscape, as they met our eyes from this high and 
commanding spot, combined to form a scene of im- 
pressive beauty and grandeur, riveting our admiring- 
gaze. The long line of coast, lost in the distant- 
ether, the beautiful bay at our feet, and wide plain 
once the rich " portion of Asher," stretching away 
northward to the white promontory of Rais-en- 
Nakura, on which, we had stood two evenings be- 
fore, with Acra about central between us and it, 
while far away in the distance beyond, the snowy 
tops of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, were in the 
panorama, with the nearer hills and mountains of 
Galilee. Enchanting as was the scene, we were 
compelled to sink from its view, as we hastened 



ELIJAH AT C A R M K L 



177 



down into the narrow plain, which borders the bay, 
and in which there is a venerable grove of olive 
trees. At half-past eight o'clock we again reached 
Kaifa, and passed through its walls, and over the 
Turkish burying-grouncl on its eastern side. In 
the sides of the cliff, which here forms the base of 
Carmel, we noticed many openings, which formed 
the entrance to ancient tombs, which we had not so 
particularly observed as we passed them the pre- 
vious evening. Proceeding a little farther on, there 
is a considerable grove of date palm-trees near the 
mouth of the Kison. In a quarter of an hour more 
we left the shores of the bay, keeping on the south- 
ern side of the river, our course of travel being 
nearly east, and for some distance near the base of 
the mountain. At a quarter before ten, we passed 
the small village of Belad-esh-Shurky, situated on 
the side of Carmel, nearly down to the plain. This 
is the only village we saw after leaving Kaifa, on 
the northern side of Carmel. Herds of black goats 
frequently met our eye. 

At half-past ten o'clock, we crossed the Kison, 
here running, in the now contracted plain, about a 
quarter of a mile distant from the Carmel range. 
The river runs in a deep channel, varying from fif- 
teen to twenty -five feet in width. ~We forded the 
stream without difficulty. After heavy rains, its 
banks are doubtless full and its passage dangerous, 

8* 



ELIJAH AT C ARM E L 



Judges, 5: 21, as it forms the drainage of the west- 
ern half of the Esdraelon plain. 

In addition to the balmy atmosphere of the 
morning, (January 4,) onr senses were regaled with 
the sight and fragrance of the blooming narcissa, 
the flowers of which clothed the plain ; while the 
hill sides were brilliant with various colored ranun- 
culus. Soon after crossing the river we began our 
ascent of the gently-rising hills of Galilee. At half- 
past eleven, A. M., we were passing up the Wady 
el Melek. On the sides of the hills we noticed a 
fine growth of oak scattered. On our right, we 
saw for the first time the dark curtains of a Bedouin 
tent. At noon, we reached the summit of the hills, 
and rested under a fine-spread oak to lunch. Here 
new scenes of sacred interest burst upon our view, 
the impression of which remains vivid and delight- 
ful in the reminiscence. The panorama around 
awoke the spontaneous wish, " Oh that other, and 
far distant friends were with us to enjoy the sight.' 7 
In the west, the Mediterranean, with Acra and its 
plain ; in the east, portions of the great plain of Es- 
draelon — Tabor, the lesser Hermon, and the moun- 
tains of Gilboa, rising above it ; and near at hand 
on the south, the central portion of Carmel. Near 
to this spot, we have no doubt, it was that Elijah 
addressed the congregated and apostate Israelites, 
in language of keen expostulation, " How long halt 



ELIJAH AT C A KM EL. 



179 



ye between two opinions ? if the Lord be God, fol- 
low him ; but if Baal, then follow him. And the 
people answered him not a word." There the 
prophets of Baal and the prophets of the groves 
were confounded before the people, and met with a 
dire retribution for their sins. "And Elijah said 
unto them, 4 Take the prophets of Baal ; let not one 
of them escape.' And they took them ; and Elijah 
brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew 
them there." 1 Kings, 18 : 40. 

The scenes of our morning's ride had brought 
vividly to our view the character of God's ancient 
prophet, inciting us to raise our hearts to the "Lord 
God of Elijah," that he would impress upon us 
some more influential lineaments of Elijah's zeal, 
courage and prayer. 

At one o'clock, P. M., we resumed our journey, 
and descended into an arm of the plain of Es- 
draelon. In forty minutes we reached and passed 
the village of Jeida. At two, P. M., we left the 
plain and passed the village of Simonides. 

The famous battle of Mount Tabor was fought 
on the plain, beyond this, on the 16th of April, 
1799. Six or eight miles west of Tabor, Kleber 
with three thousand men, withstood for seven hours 
the assaults of the Turkish army with thirty thou- 
sand foot, and twelve thousand horsemen, when Na- 
poleon, at the head of five thousand men, descended 



180 



ELIJAH AT C ARMEL. 



from the hills of Galilee to his rescue, and utterly 
exterminated the Turkish army. Four thousand 
camels, and an immense camp booty, were secured 
to the French army. 

Our course of travels was now over a range of 
very barren and rocky hills, in one of the narrow 
gorges of which we were a little disturbed by meet- 
ing a company of Bedouins, the first we had seen. 
They were mounted, each having a long spear in 
addition to other arms. Our muleteers and bag- 
gage were a short distance in our rear, and we 
deemed it prudent to wheel about to watch their 
actions. As they came up, they stopped, and 
seemed to cast a wistful eye thereto. We escaped, 
however, without molestation. In another hour 
we reached the summit of a very difficult hill 
to ascend. Here we had a fine view of the Medi- 
terranean and other scenes of interest. Descending 
from this hill by a rough pathway, we had the vil- 
lages of Keibeh and El Mujeidel on our south. At 
four, P. M., we reached the high hill which on the 
west overhangs the village of Nazareth, which was 
situated in a kind of amphitheatre below us. By a 
long and steep pathway we descended the hill, and 
at half-past four o'clock safely reached the Convent 
of Nazareth, in a building attached to which we 
found excellent accommodations. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



NAZARETH AND CAKA. 

Nazareth invested with peculiar interest— The annunciation to Mary— The 
Empress Helena — Visit to Palestine — Erected churches over sacred places — 
Description of Nazareth — Daguerreotype view — Accommodations for travel- 
lers—Convent and Church of the Annunciation — Visit to the Grotto — The 
Loretto chapel— Transported by angels — The legend related — Frauds of 
Popery — Walk to the ancient u Fountain of the Virgin" — Large water-jars 
of the women — Night in the village — Journey to Tiberias — Cana of Galilee — 
Women at the Fountain — The site disputed by Dr. Robinson— Sight of 
Tabor — Fine valley — Ard-el-Hamma — Lunch upon battle-ground of the 
Crusaders — The reputed t; true cross" taken by the Saracens — Disastrous 
results to the Crusaders — Journey resumed— Pass Tell Hattin— View of the 
Lake of Tiberias — Miracle of feeding the five thousand— Safed in view — 
Impending storm — Arrival at Tiberias. 

It is not surprising that the very name of Naz- 
areth is invested with an interest to the intelligent 
Christian, which attaches to few other places on 
earth's surface. Our veneration for its locality need 
not conduct us into the vagaries which superstition 
or fraud have imposed upon the ignorant and 
the credulous. The fact is most authentic and 
scriptural, that it was to this " despised place," Naz- 
areth, that one of Heaven's highest orders of intel- 
ligence was despatched, there to announce to an 
obscure and lowly virgin, a message on the accom- 
plishment of which a world's eternal destiny was 



182 



NAZARETH AND G A N A . 



suspended. " Highly favored, the Lord is with thee : 
"blessed art thou among women." All unknown to 
earth's potentates, she was soon to bring forth a 
son, whose name was dictated from heaven to be 
called " Jesus;" or, Joshua, that is, the salvation 
of Jehovah, to whom the Lord God should give the 
throne of his father David, and he should reign 
over the house of Jacob forever ; and of his king- 
dom there shall be no end. That these surround- 
ing hills on which we gazed, that this little secluded 
valley in which we rested, the general aspect of 
which remains unchanged by the lapse of' ages, had 
been so often, and so long traversed by the footsteps 
of the Son of Man, were considerations which will 
here impress every Christian traveller. 

Its convent, with its grotto and other tradition- 
ally sacred places, have long commanded the de- 
vout veneration of pilgrims. To those, we attached 
but little importance. The general topography of 
the region, was what most challenged our attention. 

Tradition as well as history ascribes to the Em- 
press Helena, the mother of Constantine, the honor 4 
of searching out sacred localities, and erecting 
Christian churches and chapels upon several of 
them. She doubtless visited Palestine at an ad- 
vanced age, and her pious efforts to honor Christi- 
anity, laid the foundation for much of the tradi- 
tional rubbish which has here accumulated, in the 



N A ZARETH A N D C A NT A 



183 



progress of subsequent ages. The Church of the 
Annunciation, which, is within the convent here, is 
said to have been originally one of the numerous 
fruits of her zeal. The establishment of convents 
for the various religious orders, was the fruit of 
their rivalries, and the multiplicity of pilgrimages 
to the Holy Land, between the fourth and twelfth 
centuries. 

ISTazareth, as it now exists, is situated in a narrow 
basin of about a mile in length, surrounded by hills, 
the town being built upon the steep side of those 
that border the valley on the west. Below, and 
east of the village, there is a small plain, or com- 
paratively level place, on which is a grove of olive 
and fig trees. The basin is about eight hundred feet 
above the Mediterranean. Some of the hills around 
it, particularly the western, are probably fifteen to 
sixteen hundred feet above the sea. The houses of 
the village are generally built of stone, one story 
high, flat roofed, and in the general aspect of the 
place, presenting an agreeable contrast to most of 
the miserable villages we had seen since we entered 
Palestine. There is a Mosk here with quite an im- 
posing minaret. The number of inhabitants is vari- 
ously estimated from three to five thousand, a large 
portion of them being nominally Christian. We 
have a fine daguerreotype view of Nazareth, with 
its western hills, taken from a point in the valley 



184 



NAZARETH AND C A N A . 



a short distance east of the village, by an artist, 
subsequent to our visit there. We regret that cir- 
cumstances prevent our presenting a copy of it to 
the eye of our readers, upon these pages. 

In near proximity to the Franciscan or Latin 
convent, is a large building erected by the monks 
expressly for the accommodation of pilgrims. Here 
we found excellent quarters. After adjusting our 
luggage, notwithstanding the fatigues of our day's 
journey, we went forth to make our explorations. 
Crossing the space between our quarters and the 
castle-like walls of the convent, we entered the 
gate, and proceeded to the chapel, or Church of 
the Annunciation, which we found somewhat gor- 
geously decorated. Under the altar is the famous 
grotto, to which we descended by a few steps. The 
monk who conducted us through the various apart- 
ments, now assured us that we were upon the very 
spot where the Virgin Mary sat, when the angel 
Gabriel appeared unto her, and said, "Hail, highly 
favored, the Lord is with thee." On our left was a 
broken column, suspended by the roof or flooring 
above, but said to be miraculously attached, having 
been broken off at the bottom when the angel en- 
tered the apartment. He opened a closet door, and 
told us the window through which the angel entered 
was there. Passing now at the right around a kind 
of altar screen, to an apartment immediately back 



N A Z A RE T II A K D C A X A . 



185 



of this, you are assured that you are now in the 
work-shop of Joseph. From this we were con- 
ducted by a long subterranean passage and by a 
flight of steps to a cave, in which we were informed 
the holy family lived : we understood him to say, 
subsequent to the return from Egypt. 

The original house, which was over or adjoining 
upon the grotto, the famed " Loretto Chapel" is re- 
ported to have lasted in its original state, until the 
Empress Helena enclosed it within her splendid 
church, and so remained until the year 1291, when 
to preserve it from the destruction, or desecration 
of the Mohammedan Sultan of Egypt, it was by 
angels transported, first to Dalmatia, and thence to 
Loretto, in Italy, a town not far from Ancona. 

The traditionary legend represents that the Celes- 
tial Cohort landed the sacred habitation on the 
Italian shores of the Adriatic, where it became the 
occasion of strife between two brothers, which ended 
in the death of one of them, After this tragic- 
event, the angels resumed their labors, and conveyed 
it to the grounds of an old lady name Lenretta, from 
w r hom it derived its name, where it found a rest- 
ing place. Its fame ere long converted a forest 
into a city. This fraud of Popery upon the credulity 
and superstition of its votaries, proved for a long 
period an abundant source of revenue ; one hundred 
thousand persons were computed to have annually 



186 



NAZARETH AND C A N A . 



paid religious visits to Loretto. The belief of the 
fable is still retained, as a part of the infallible and 
unchanging system of Komanism. 

They have an exact copy, within and without, 
of this " santissima casa" at Prague, which we had 
seen when we were there. In our just indignation 
at such "pious frauds," and at the idolatrous hom- 
age to the Virgin, and her image, which obtrudes 
itself upon our notice in all Popish countries, we 
are in danger of losing that veneration for the 
character of Mary to which it is properly entitled. 

Leaving the convent, we now, with more satis- 
faction, walked about the third of a mile northward, 
down the valley to the " Fountain of the Virgin," 
as it is termed. Here, the women, as of old, repair 
with their large earthen jars for water. We could 
not doubt that a spectacle, nearly the same in all its 
features, was daily there seen eighteen hundred 
years before, when, with others, the blessed Mary 
here repaired with her water jar, to secure a sup- 
ply for the necessities of her family. These jars 
are estimated to contain from four to eight gallons 
of water. While the ladies of our party could 
hardly raise the largest of the jars from the ground 
when filled, we were quite astonished to behold 
how skilfully these Arab women managed to ele- 
vate them to their shoulder, or to the top of their 




A WOMAN OF NAZARETH. 

T Sinclair's Lfth.Phil 



NAZARETH A N D C A X A . 



187 



heads, and bear the heavy burden awaj 7 in safety to 
the village. 

The top of our apartments afforded us an excel- 
lent view of the village. In the early part of the 
evening nearly every house had a light, caused by 
the fire on its floor glimmering through the open- 
ing of the door. Situated, as they were, above and 
around us, the appearance was novel and interest- 
ing. But for the numerous dogs which infest the 
place, we should have enjoyed a quiet night's rest ; 
for noise and quarrelsomeness, we judge the dogs 
of Nazareth remain unrivalled. 

Rising at an early hour the following morning, 
we were upon our horses at a quarter before eight 
o'clock, ready to commence our excursion to Ti- 
berias. Our road took us again directly past the 
Fountain of the Virgin, which we stopped to exam- 
ine, as there was now less crowd around it than 
we had found on the previous evening. The water 
is conveyed into a small stone reservoir. The stream 
discharged, as near as we could judge, about two 
gallons a minute. Ascending the hill, north-east- 
ward of the village, we passed along a deep and 
precipitous gorge. After reaching the summit of 
this hill, we descended eastward, along a steep and 
exceedingly rocky pathway, to a small valley, in 
which is the large village of Er-Eeineh. Other 
rocky hills were passed, and at nine o'clock we 



188 



NAZARETH AND C A N A . 



reached the little village of Kefr Kenna, which has 
generally been regarded as the Cana of Galilee, 
John 2 : 1, where " was a marriage, and the mother 
of J esns was there. And both Jesus was called, 
and his disciples, to the marriage." 

Before we reached the village, we passed the 
fountain that supplies it with water; at which 
women were engaged in washing garments, by 
beating them upon a smooth stone with a flat stick, 
which seems to have been a primitive mode of 
washing. ~SVe have seen the same process by the 
African in the "West Indies. Other women were 
at the fountain, with their "large earthen water 
jars or firkins" for water for domestic use. Here 
we opened our Bibles and read the second chapter 
of John's Gospel. The incidents it records, were 
strikingly illustrated by these water jars, which the 
women were bearing away upon their heads to their 
homes. The village is composed of low mud hovels, 
surrounded with filth ; it is situated upon the north- 
east side of a small hill, having a little valley on its 
north-west, in which is a grove of orange, fig, and 
olive trees, the whole overlooked by high and rocky 
hills. The proximity of the village to Nazareth, 
and being on the direct route to Tiberias, seems 
much to favor the tradition of this being the true 
location of the Cana of Galilee. Dr. Robinson, 
however, whose authority is not lightly to be dis- 



NAZARETH AND C A N A , 



189 



puted, adduces reasons against its claims to that 
honor. He regards Kana-el- Jelil, a village some 
miles north of this, as the true location for the Cana 
of John. 

At half-past ten o'clock we had the top of Tabor in 
sight, on our right, some four or five miles distant. 
In half an hour more we were upon an elevation 
which commanded a view of the high table land 
east of the Lake of Tiberias, having before us on 
our right a very beautiful plain, falling off rapidly 
to the south — -the Ard el Hamma, 

At twelve o'clock, M., we rested to lunch upon 
or in the immediate vicinity of the fatal battle- 
ground of the Crusaders with Saladin, which oc- 
curred upon the fourth and fifth clays of July, 
A. P. 1187. 

The famed " true cross," which the superstition 
of ages had regarded as having been miraculously 
recovered by the Empress Helena, here fell into 
the hands of the Saracens. It had been brought 
to the camp of the Crusaders, to animate them in 
the desperate conflict; the sacred standard was 
borne by the Bishop of Ptolemais, who was killed 
in the heat of the battle. The Bishop of Lidda took 
it from the hand of the expiring prelate, and en- 
deavored to escape; but was arrested in his at- 
tempted flight. Dismay seized the Crusaders, when 
they discovered their talismanic banner in the hands 



190 



NAZARETH AND CANA. 



of the Saracens. Prodigies of valour were said to 
have been performed "by the Kniglits of the Temple 
and St. John, in this ill-concerted battle, the results 
of which annihilated the power of the Crusaders in 
Palestine. 

At half-past twelve o'clock we resumed our jour- 
ney. We noticed in this vicinity many dry pits or 
cisterns. The village of El-Lubieh we passed on 
our left. At one, P. M., we passed Tell Hattin, or 
the Hill of Hattin, and nov^ came in view of the 
northern portion of the Lake of Tiberias. The Hill 
of Hattin is regarded by the Latin Church as the 
spot where our Saviour delivered the sermon on the 
Mount We were now on the hill side, having the 
deep valley of Hattin descending northward before 
us. Upon the ground along which we were now 
riding, tradition locates the miracle of the feeding 
of the five thousand with the five loaves. From 
this point, and a little farther on, the view is 
very beautiful. Safed, situated upon the gently- 
rising but high hill, north of the Lake, may well be 
supposed to occupy the site of the city referred to 
Matthew, 5 : 14 : "A city that is set on a hill can- 
not be hid." A quarter of an hour further on, the 
whole lake came into our view, excepting a small 
portion at its southern extremity, where it empties 
into the Jordan, which was hid by a low ridge ad- 
joining it. The hill upon which we stood, which 



NAZARETH AND C A X A . 



191 



overhung the lake on the west, must be more than 
fifteen hundred feet high above it. The town of 
Tiberias, as seen from this mountain height, has 
been aptly said to resemble a large brick-yard. 

Indications of an impending storm now induced 
us to urge our steeds down the steep and rocky 
mountain sides with all possible speed ; and ere we 
reached the dilapidated and shaken walls of the 
town, the rain began to descend upon us. At two, 
P. M., we dismounted at the door of one of the 
largest houses of the town, occupied by a Jew — to 
which we affix the sobriquet " the Hotel of Tiberias 



CHAPTER XX. 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 

Period of present town — Ruined Walls — Earthquake — Miserable Houses — Ba- 
zars with ancient columns— Church of St. Peter— The Lake— Its extent- 
Surface below the Mediterranean — Depth ascertained by Lt. Lynch — Gloom 
around — No boat upon its waters— Storm — Hotel Accommodations— Annoy- 
ances at Night — Storm abating in the morning — Collating Scripture — Visit 
to Church of St. Peter — View from the house top — The Storm upon the 
Lakes— Aspect of its Eastern Scenery—" City set upon a Hill" — Tiberias 
of the New Testament — Built by Herod Antipas — Josephus' Account — Ex- 
plorations — Site of the City — An Ancient Colonnade — Hot Springs and Bath 
Houses — Entrance of Ancient Tombs — Discovery of a Ruined Temple — 
Another Night in Tiberias. 

The Tiberias of the present day is a miserable 
village. It probably elates back to the period of the 
first Crusade. Its walls and once imposing castle 
present a scene of utter ruin, having been shaken 
to their very foundations, and in many places en- 
tirely prostrated, by the earthquake of January 1st, 
1837, by which it was computed that seven hundred 
persons lost their lives. 

With but two or three exceptions, the houses are 
low stone hovels, about ten feet high, with flat 
roofs, which, as usual, are covered with mud mixed 
with straw, and rolled hard with a stone roller, to 
shed the rain. The streets, or more properly alleys, 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



193 



are very narrow, winding round among the houses, 
and full of filth and mud. 

The small bazar is in keeping with other parts 
of the city, with the exception that the shops are in 
part supported by rows of old broken granite col- 
umns about ten inches in diameter, some of them 
with their capitals ; they were doubtless gathered 
from the ruins of the ancient city. The Moham- 
medan population have a Mosk with minaret ; the 
Christian, the small church of St. Peter. The castle 
is on the northern side of the town, on ground 
which rises abruptly from the lake. This abrupt 
and still more elevated ridge extends along the 
shore northward for two miles, when you reach a 
narrow plain, on which, probably, once stood Mag- 
dala. The Lake of Tiberias lies between forty and 
fifty miles east from Acra. It is situated in a deep 
depression, its surface having been ascertained to be 
eighty -four feet below the Mediterranean ; it is gen- 
erally estimated to be eleven or twelve miles in 
length from north to south, and from five to seven 
miles wide at its greatest breadth. 

According to Lieut. Lynch, its greatest ascertained 
depth is one hundred and sixty-five feet. It is sup- 
ported by the waters of the Upper Jordan, which 
enters in at its north-eastern angle. The lake 
forms a beautiful basin of clear water ; but the 
utter nakedness of the scenery, and death-like still 

9 



194 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



ness that reigns around this once populous region, 
shed over the scene a mournful gloom. It is the 
Chinnereth of Num. 34 : 11, and Josh. 11 : 2. In 
Matt. 4: 18, and Mark 1 : 16, it is called " the sea 
of Galilee Luke 5 : 1, " the Lake of Gennesaret 
John 6 : 22, " the sea of Tiberias." In answer to 
our inquiries, we found that there was not a single 
boat upon the lake ! 

The early hour of our arrival at Tiberias would 
have afforded ample time for us to have made many 
interesting explorations in its vicinity, but the tor- 
rents of rain that descended imprisoned us as closely 
for the whole afternoon and night as Noah in the 
Ark, and with little more facility for observation 
without. Our quarters had, indeed, the advantage 
of being a second story ; but, without glass, we 
were screened as effectually from the light of day 
as its rude wooden shutters could effect. Our party 
of five might have had little cause to complain, as 
our room was comparatively spacious, and furnished 
with a wide- cushioned divan on three sides, in true 
Oriental style ; but, in addition to the tempest with- 
out, the fowls of our host had taken refuge on a 
convenient roosting-place over our heads, and, 
worse than the dogs of Nazareth, kept up an in- 
cessant crowing ; add to which, like other sojourn- 
ers here, we were importunately called upon to 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



195 



verify the truth of the old tradition, "that the king 
of fleas here holds his court." 

With the morning sun the storm abated, and the 
clear blue sky occasionally appeared above the 
rapidly-flying clouds. At nine o'clock we break- 
fasted, fish from the lake forming a part of the re- 
past. We found them very delicate, but filled with 
exceedingly short, thick bones. There are several 
varieties of fish found here, some of which are 
spoken of as very good. After disposing of our 
breakfast, as the storm continued, we occupied 
nearly three hours in collating and reading those 
portions of the Gospels which narrate incidents in 
our Lord's life that occurred on and adjacent to 
these waters. We were surprised with their num- 
ber, and with the relations which this beautiful little 
lake and its surrounding hill-sides have to the gos- 
pel history. Any one who will sit down with the 
same object, must arise from the review with the 
like conviction. 

At twelve o'clock, M., the storm had so far sub- 
sided that we went to the Latin church of St. Peter, 
which stands not far from the shore, on the spot 
that tradition has pointed out as the place where 
the miraculous draught of fishes was drawn to the 
shore, when Jesus here appeared unto the apostles 
after his resurrection — John, 21. The access to the 
church was through a narrow and dirty passage. 



196 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



The edifice is a simple arch-roofed building, with 
thick walls, about fifty feet long, twenty-five feet 
wide, and twenty high, resembling more a granary 
than a church. One side of the interior was mainly 
occupied with grain, which lay in considerable 
quantities on the floor. From the top of a con- 
nected building we had an excellent view of the 
lake. 

Eeturning to our quarters, we lunched at one 
o'clock P. M., after which we repaired to the flat- 
roofed top of our house by a flight of stairs on the 
outside — Luke, 5 : 19. The waters of the lake pre- 
sented a light green appearance under the bright 
rays of the sun, now emerged from the clouds of the 
just passing shower; the waves were dashing in 
considerable fury. We saw enough to show us 
that before a Sirocco tempest the disciples might 
well be filled with dismay as they were tossed upon 
these waters in their frail bark — Matt. 8 : 24. Di- 
rectly before us lay the lake, in nearly its whole 
extent ; its widest and larger part being north of us. 
Here it was about five miles to its eastern shore, on 
which side of it, two wadies or gorges break down 
from the high and mountainous table-land to the 
water. Nearly opposite is one of them, the Wady 
el Semak, above which the ranges of hills, eight 
hundred to a thousand feet above the lake, grad- 
ually recede from the shore, and so continue to its 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



197 



northern extremity, where it spreads out, at its 
north-eastern angle, to a verdant little plain, through 
•which the Upper Jordan enters the lake. The hill, 
a few miles north of the lake, on which is the vil- 
lage of Safed, rises conspicuous, to the height of two 
thousand five hundred feet. " A city set upon such 
a hill cannot be hid" from any portion of the sur- 
rounding region. The hills which border the east- 
ern side of the lake, south of Tiberias, are still 
higher and more abrupt than those on the more 
northern portion. They form a high table-land, 
running off to the south, receding from the shore 
at the lower extremity of the lake, along which 
there is a plain of small extent. 

We have remarked that the Tiberias of the pres- 
ent day dates back to the period of the Crusaders. 
There is conclusive evidence that the ancient city 
was mainly located from one to two miles south of 
the present village. 

The city was originally built by Herod Antipas. 
On the death of his father, Herod the Great, the 
Emperor Tiberias so far confirmed his will as to 
instate his son Antipas in the government of a part 
of Galilee. Josephus tells us, "Now Herod the 
Tetrarch, who was in great favor with Tiberias, 
built a city of the same name with him, and called 
it Tiberias. He built it in the best part of Galilee, 
at the Lake Gennesareth. 



198 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



" There are warm baths a little distance from it, 
in a village called Emmaus, (hot baths.) Strangers 
came and inhabited this city. A great number of 
the inhabitants were Grallileans also ; and many 
were necessitated by Herod to come thither out of 
the country belonging to him, and were by force 
compelled to be its inhabitants. Some of them 
were persons of condition." — Ant. B. 18, ch. 2. 

At a later hour in the afternoon, we emerged 
from our imprisonment to explore the region 
around this part of the lake. Passing out over the 
prostrated wall on the south side of the town, we 
first came upon an extensive Jewish burial-ground, 
the graves in which are indicated by flat stones, 
with Hebrew inscriptions. Tiberias has long been 
a favored abode of the J ew. The mountainous hills 
which border the lake here recede from it, and 
again spur down to the water about two miles south 
of the village, forming a plain somewhat in the 
form of a crescent. Upon the top of one of these 
elevations there is a ruined fortress, which would 
appear to have been the Acropolis of the ancient 
city. In the sides of two of these high cliffs there 
are numerous openings of tombs excavated within 
them, which belong, doubtless, to the Jewish period. 

Pursuing the shore of the Lake southward, in its 
vicinity, we passed numerous granite columns, show- 
ing the existence of former magnificent edifices. It 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



199 



seems quite probable that an extensive colonnade 
once adorned the margin of the lake, not unlike 
to that erected by Herod the Great at Samaria in 
honor of Augustus, and which Antipas may have 
here attempted to rival, in honor of his patron Ti- 
berias. At the distance of a mile and a half south 
of the town, we came to the hot springs and bath- 
houses — the Emmaus of Josephus. The water is 
very hot — over 140° F. — bitter, and salt, like the 
water of the Dead Sea. There are two bath-houses 
here, the more recent of which is quite an imposing 
circular building, said to have been erected by 
Ibrahim Pasha, during the Egyptian rule in Syria. 

That these springs existed, and were much re- 
sorted to at the period of the gospel histories, there 
can be no doubt ; and it struck us as remarkable, 
that no allusion is made to them by the Evangelists. 

The lateness of the hour forbade our following 
the lake quite down to the Jordan, which we much 
regretted. On our return, at a little distance to the 
north-west of the baths, we entered two of the old 
tombs, before referred to, high up in the hill side, 
one of which had six compartments leading from 
the vestibule. 

More central, in the plain, we noticed the foun- 
dations of numerous edifices. Leading from spurs 
of the mountains directly down to the lake were 
also the foundations of two walls. At the distance 



200 



TIBERIAS AND ITS LAKE. 



of about a mile and a half from the village, we came 
upon four fine granite columns ; and one-third of a 
mile further north, we found twenty-one granite 
columns, some of them standing in their places. 
They are about twenty inches in diameter, and so 
spread about as clearly to indicate that they once 
formed part of a long-since ruined temple of two 
hundred feet from east to west, and one hundred 
feet wide. At its eastern extremity we discovered 
a stone altar, about four feet square, the mouldings 
chiseled on its base and top remaining quite per- 
fect. We inferred that it belonged to the Eoman 
period. 

That the surface of the lake has never risen 
much, if any, above its present average rise, is ob- 
vious from the site of the early city, as well as that 
of the positions of the columns on its margin, to 
which we have referred. As the principal part of 
the waters of the Lower J ordan are received from 
this lake, this fact has an important bearing to con- 
firm our position in regard to the annual overflow 
of the Jordan, which our readers will find the topic 
of a subsequent chapter. 

After another night passed amid the annoyances 
of Tiberias, at an early hour we were upon our 
horses, to return to Nazareth by the way of Mount 
Tabor. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



MOUNT TABOR. 

Departure from Tiberias— Ride along the Lake shore — Dilapidated Walls — As- 
cent of the western Hills — View of the Lake — Sites of Chorazin, Bethsaida, 
and Capernaum unknown— Reflections— Tell Hat tin the Mount of Beati- 
tudes—Old Caravan Track— Kahn El-Tujjar— An Arab Fair— Bedouin en- 
campment — Arrival at Mount Tabor : its partial ascent — Mount of Trans- 
figuration — Objections of Dr. Robinson not satisfactory — Reasons assigned — 
Lunch upon the Mountain side — Return to Xazareth, 

The few date palm-trees seen on the ground in 
front of the Castle, and one or two others in the 
village, is all that Tiberias possesses, to impart 
cheerfulness to the eye of the traveller ; and we left 
it with few personal regrets. Passing through its 
southern gate, we rode a short distance along the 
shore of the lake, and then turned from its view, 
to prosecute, under a bright sky, our day's journey. 
We noticed a volcanic appearance in the rocks 
around the vicinity, as we passed up the small val- 
ley on the rear or west of the dilapidated walls of 
the town, and mounted to the top of the western 
hills, by the same steep path which we had de- 
scended two clays before. As we proceeded, we en- 
joyed a splendid view of the lake and adjacent 
country. Below us, on the northern end of the 

9* 



202 



MOUNT TABOR. 



lake, was spread out the small plain of Gennesareth. 
Near at hand, once flourished Chorazin, Bethsaida 
and Capernaum. Matthew, 11 : 21, and Luke, 10 : 
13, exalted to heaven in their privileges, from the 
personal teaching of the Son of Man ; but for re- 
jected and abused mercies, long since utterly blot- 
ted from the view of men, so that the exact locality 
they once occupied cannot be identified. Tyre and 
Sidon, less favored and less guilty, still survive the 
disasters of ages, and retain a name and place on 
the map of human existence and activity. Each a 
beacon of warning to us, in this yet more privileged 
age and land. 

At half-past eight o'clock, A. M., we had lost 
sight of the walls and Castle of Tiberias. In half 
an hour more, we reached the summit of the moun- 
tain, still overlooking, in our progress, the northern 
extremity of the lake. We soon approached, and 
again passed on our left, Tell Hattin, or the Hill of 
Hattin, the traditional mountain on which was de- 
livered "the Sermon on the Mount." Oh! how 
greatly do the wretched dwellers on these hills and 
mountain sides need to be taught afresh those les- 
sons of wisdom, love and purity, which were by the 
Saviour here announced eighteen hundred years 
ago. We here again trod on the battle ground of 
the Crusaders, on the disastrous fifth of July, 1187. 

At ten o'clock we met the old caravan track 



MOUNT TABOR. 



2C3 



leading from Damascus to Egypt, which has prob- 
ably been trodden since the days of Abraham. 
Leaving Lubieh on our right, and having the 
beautiful plain of Ard El-Hamma on our left, we 
descended southerly over an exceedingly stony 
and rough tract toward Mount Tabor. 

At eleven, we arrived at the Khan El Tujjar, 
where we were much interested in finding a large 
assemblage of Arabs, from all the villages for many 
miles around, who were here holding a kind of 
fair. The articles exhibited for sale were spread 
upon the ground, consisting chiefly of common ar- 
ticles of cotton cloths of European manufacture, 
shoes, slippers, and some very ordinary raisins, 
figs, and other merchandise. "We could hardly con- 
ceive of a more wild assemblage of men, women 
and children, horses and camels. As we rode 
around among the promiscuous throng, the ladies 
of our party excited no little of their curiosity. 

The old Khan presents a castle-like appearance ; 
and from it the northern side of Tabor is fall in 
view. We left the novel scene, pleased that this 
aspect of Arab life had come under our observation. 
Soon after leaving the Khan, we came upon an ex- 
tensive Bedouin encampment. Their ferocious dogs 
were disposed to attack, if their masters left us un- 
molested. Their primitive looking tents are formed 
by extending a long piece of black goat's hair-cloth 



204 



MOUNT TABOR. 



over rude sticks or bushes, with the side open, or 
fully exposed toward the south-east, in the winter 
season. Under this rude shelter they and their 
flocks are gathered at night, and here are arranged 
their few and simple articles for domestic use, ready 
to be transported to other camping-ground, at an 
hour's notice. Bartlett has a good view of this very 
encampment among his sketches. We apprehend 
these Bedouin tents truly represent those under 
which Abraham rested, when "By faith he sojourned 
in (this) land of promise, as in a strange country, 
dwelling in tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob, the 
heirs with him of the same promises." (Heb. 11 : 
9, 10.) 

At twelve o'clock, M., we reached the north- 
western slope of Tabor, which here spurs down, and 
connects with the hills of Gralilee. Standing mainly 
isolated as it does, its appearance is quite imposing, 
Ps. 89, although it is not as high by several hun- 
dred feet as Safecl, and not much above the moun- 
tains which border the western side of the Lake of 
Tiberias. The actual height of Tabor is 1,748 feet 
above the Mediterranean, and about 1,300 above 
the plain of Esdraelon, which it borders. Oblong 
in its form, its northern, eastern and southern sides 
are very abrupt, and would be difficult of ascent 
even by persons on foot. The western slope is 
easily ascended, but our dragoman, from ignorance, 



MOUNT TABOR. 



205 



or intentionally, missed the proper horse-track, and 
we were compelled to turn back before reaching its 
summit. 

Tabor was early pointed out by tradition, as the 
" Mount of transfiguration," Matt., 11: 13. Luke, 
9 : 28. Its summit was occupied by churches and 
monasteries as early as the sixth or seventh century. 
Peter's desire here to "make three tabernacles," the 
spirit of superstition, in a later age, literally accom- 
plished. At the present day the ruins of former 
buildings are seen. That this was the "high moun- 
tain" where our Saviour was transfigured, before 
the chosen witnesses of that remarkable transaction, 
Peter, James, and John, we see nothing to disprove, 
if there is little evidence to confirm the tradition : 
on the whole, we felt quite willing to admit its cor- 
rectness. Dr. Eobinson adduces several reasons to 
refute this generally-received tradition. We were 
not in this instance, however, convinced of the cor- 
rectness of his argument. One of his strong points 
is, that the top of Tabor was very early occupied as 
a fortified military post, and, in ail probability, so 
occupied by the Eomans at the period in question. 
Admitting such to be the fact, it is by no means 
conclusive against the tradition. It is not probable 
that the camp covered the whole summit — and even 
if it did, there was nothing in the visit of four un- 
armed peasants to attract the attention of the Eoman 



206 



MOUNT TABOR. 



soldiery. We see nothing in the narratives or in 
the nature of the transaction, or in events in some 
degree analogous, which we find recorded in the 
Gospels, which would involve any necessity that 
the transfiguration should be visible, except to the 
three chosen witnesses. The bright cloud that over- 
shadowed them may well be supposed to have ob- 
scured the view of others. (John, 1 : 32, and 12 : 
28, 29. Acts, 9 : 7.) 

After lunching on the side of the mountain, we 
mounted our horses, and descended to the small 
village of Deburieh, which stands nearly at its base ; 
and thence pursued our way over the hills to Naz- 
areth, where we arrived at an early hour in the 
afternoon, purposing to resume on the following 
day our journey toward Jerusalem. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 

The Character of Jehu — Self-styled reformers of the present age— Importance 
of knowledge of local relations in reading Scripture narratives— Saul at 
Endor — Christ at Xain — Mountain of Gilboa — Elisha at Shunem — Valley of 
Jez reel— Beth-Shan in view— Saul's D j ath — King Joram's War — Sick at 
Jezreel — Elisha sends to Ramoth-Gilead and anoints Jehu king — Jehu's 
CommiSiion— Scene of Jehu's exploits— Destruction of the house of Ahab. 

The character of Jehu, as it is presented to us by 
the inspired historian, is one of strange contradic- 
tions. Perhaps it would not be difficult to find his 
counterpart in some of the self-styled reformers of 
the present day, were their characters impartially 
weighed. Under the influence of an impetuous and 
consuming zeal, he dashes forward to the accom- 
plishment of his purpose, with little apparent regard 
to the means, if the end be attained, calling even 
the abstemious J ehonadab to ascend his chariot and 
witness his "zeal for the Lord." Yet this same 
Jehu, in his personal conduct, " took no heed to 
walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel, with all 
his heart ; for he departed not from the sins of Jero- 
boam, who made Israel to sin." 

In very many instances, we shall more intelligent- 



208 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 



ly understand the Scripture narratives, and they 
will impart to us a much higher interest, when we 
adequately apprehend the scenes of their occurrence. 
Our present object will be mainly an attempt to 
illustrate a portion of the narrative which we find 
in the ninth and tenth chapters of 2 Kings, respect- 
ing the destruction of the house of Ahab by Jehu. 
In order to do this, we shall present the relative 
situation of places contiguous to Jezreel, to which 
we may have occasion to refer. Our journey from 
Nazareth to Jenin, led us directly across the plain 
of Esdraelon. An hour after leaving Nazareth, we 
descended by a steep and ancient pathway from the 
hills of Galilee into the plain. We had Mount 
Tabor in full view on our left, at an hour's distance. 
The little Hermon rises abruptly in the midst of the 
plain. High up on its northern side, and directly 
fronting Tabor, are the villages of Endor and Nain. 
In about an hour we reached and crossed the north- 
western slope of this mountain ridge, and lost sight 
of them. How often, as our thoughts recur to 
those contiguous sites, do we instinctively mingle 
the recollection of those dissimilar visits, of which 
we have the record on the sacred page. The Sa- 
viour of mankind, in his mercy-errands, ascends in 
the light of day the steep sides of Hermon — attract- 
ed towards the conspicuous gates of Nain, from 
which, as they approach, is emerging that sympa- 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 



209 



thizing throng, who are carrying forth the lifeless 
remains of a young man, " the only son of his 
mother, and she was a widow," Luke 7: 11. The 
sequel I need not rehearse. The other visit to 
which we refer, and which occurred more than a 
thousand years previous, was that of the foreboding 
and guilty Saul to Endor. 

Passing the host of the Philistines, which lay en- 
camped at Shunem, on the southern side of this 
same hill. Saul, on his dismal visit to the Witch of 
Endor, had wound his way around or over its steep 
summit in the darkness of night — (1 Sam. 28.) We 
agitated the question when on the ground, and in- 
ferred that he probably passed around the eastern 
end of the hill. From his camp under the Grilboa 
range, it was a ride of several hours ; and we need 
not be surprised, that after the interview, the king 
was faint and dismayed. 

Proceeding on our way, as we turned easterly to 
pass around to the southern side of this ridge, the 
Grilboa range of mountains soon burst upon our 
vision, some ten or twelve miles in the distance 
south-east of us. The bright rays of the morning 
sun rested upon them, as they lay in our view, 
richly girdled with fleecy and floating clouds. We 
soon entered and passed the miserable village of 
mud hovels which occupies the site of the ancient 
Shunem, where of old the prophet Elisha was often 



210 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 



entertained by one of its pious and distinguished 
dwellers — (II Kings, 4:8.) We gathered here an 
orange leaf for our herbarium, as a memento of 
"the Prophet's Chamber," and were admonished 
that those who extend a cheerful hospitality to the 
servants of the Lord, even in this day, will often 
find that they have, as it were, entertained angels 
unawares. Here we descended into the valley or 
plain of J ezreel, of about four miles in width, which 
lies between this lesser Hermon and Jezreel. When 
half-way over this arm of Esdraelon, Beth-Shan 
came into view on out left, several miles distant 
eastward, and in a measure shutting off our view 
farther down toward the Jordan. On the sides of 
the adjacent mountains of Gilboa, it is recorded in 
strains of touching pathos, was " the shield of the 
mighty vilely cast away — -the shield of Saul, as 
though he had not been anointed with oil." And 
against the conspicuous walls of Beth-Shan, the 
headless and dishonored bodies of Saul and his sons 
were ignominiously nailed up by the victorious 
Philistines* 

Our readers will please to keep in view the re- 
lation of these places, and notice specially that be- 
tween the somewhat elevated site of Beth-Shan, and 
the mountains of Grilboa, the passage down to the 
Jordan is comparatively narrow. An hour's ride 
from Shunem brought us upon the commanding 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 



211 



and beautiful site of Jezreel, and we now recur to 
the special incident we have in view in the Mission 
of Jehu. 

Wounded in battle with Hazael, king of Syria, 
Joram, the son of Ahab, had returned from his 
camp to Jezreel to be healed, leaving his army in 
command of Jehu. The prophet Elisha now directs 
one of the young prophets to gird up his loins and 
go to Kamoth Grilead, on the east side of Jordan, 
and there anoint Jehu as the future king of Israel, 
saying — " Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have 
anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, 
even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house 
of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood 
of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all 
the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel." — 
(n Kings, 9.) 

On Jehu's acquainting his troops with what had 
occurred, he is by them proclaimed king, v. 13, 
and he immediately proceeds to cross the Jordan, 
to execute his commission upon the house of Ahab. 
" So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, 
for Joram lay there." 

We were delighted with the fine view which 
Jezreel affords in every direction. Its ancient 
watch tower must have commanded a view of the 
whole adjacent region eastward, nearly clown to the 
Jordan. Beth-Shan we should judge to be six or 



212 



THE MISSION OF JEHU . 



seven miles distant below it, and there, as we have 
before remarked, the valley or plain appeared quite 
narrow. It is not in fact more than three miles 
wide. 

"When Jehu and his host reached that point, be- 
tween Gilboa and Beth-Shan, he would naturally 
be descried by " the watchman on the tower in 
Jezreel," of which report being made to king Joram, 
in his palace below, a messenger on horseback is 
quickly despatched down into the plain to meet the 
ambiguous host, and question the object of their ap- 
proach : "Is it peace?" "We may safely assume 
that this messenger would meet Jehu at the dis- 
tance of three miles or more. On the report made 
of his detention, and being turned into the rear of 
the still advancing troop, a second messenger is in 
like manner despatched, who would naturally meet 
Jehu at the distance of a mile, or a mile and a half 
down on the plain ; whom also being turned into 
the rear — the watchman told, saying: "He came 
even unto them, and cometh not again ; and the 
driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Mm- 
shi ; for he driveth furiously." 

The alarmed monarch, now awakened to a sense 
of his impending danger, quickly summons his 
forces to meet the crisis, and accompanied by Aha- 
ziah, king of Judah, ascend their chariots to make a 
feeble resistance to the impetuous onset of Jehu, who, 



THE MISSION OF JEHU. 



213 



quickly from the plain, ascends the steep northern 
sides of the site on which Jezreel stood, and the 
conflicting parties meet " in the portion of Naboth 
the Jezreelite," where Joram is quickly despatched 
by an arrow from the strong arm of Jehu. 

We shall not now attempt further to follow the 
narrative. We have been impressed with the ob- 
vious accuracy of the sacred historian, here as well 
as elsewhere ; the localities and distances being just 
such as seem naturally to be required by the in- 
cidents, related, affording just time for the trans- 
actions to have occurred in the order they are re- 
corded, and imparting to the Biblical student, in 
this distant age, another addition to the numerous 
incidental and internal evidences of the authenticity 
and credibility of the sacred Scriptures. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

Plain of Esdraelon— Lunch on the vineyard of Naboth— A night at Jenin— 
Scenery in view — Journey to Samaria— Its fine situation— Ancient terraces 
—Columns— Walled and adorned by Herod— Ruins of the Church of St. 
John the Baptist — His place of execution considered — Josephus' account 
not reliable — The modern villagers — Attempted robbery — Continued ex- 
plorations — Extended colonnade— Historic review. 

In the progress of our journey through, the Holy 
Land, our route from Nazareth to Jerusalem, and 
intermediate places of interest, carried us directly 
over the great Central Plain of Palestine — Esdea- 
elon, here about eighteen miles across, being its 
widest part. This plain is the great " battle-ground" 
of ages, from the days of Siseea to Napoleon. 
The soil is rich, producing cotton, corn, and wheat, 
though but a small part of it is under cultivation. 
Leaving Nazareth and the hills of Galilee, on the 
south of it, we descended into this plain, some six 
miles to the west of Tabor, having before us on our 
left, in full view, the villages of Nain and Endor — - 
high up on the northern side of the lesser Hermon, 
which here rises in an oblong and naked form, in 
the midst of the plain. Passing over the western 



S A M ARIA AND ITS M X UMENTS, 



215 



extremity of this hill, we soon came to the village 
of Shunem, situated under its south-western side. 
We now^ entered the valley, and in an hour and a 
quarter reached the fine site of Jezreel, which is 
another elevation in the great plain. Here we 
spread our cloth on the ground and lunched— to 
the best of our knowledge, on u the vineyard of 
Naboth." The view from the spot was very fine. 
Two or three marble or lime-stone Sarcophagi lay 
on the ground. 

During much of the morning w r e had enjoyed a 
fine view r of the Gilboa range, w r hich stretches along 
eastward toward the Jordan. These mountains 
were now nigh at hand, naked and sterile, as if 
neither dew nor rain had fallen upon them since the 
day that David uttered his touching lament over 
the untimely death of Saul and Jonathan. "The 
beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places : how 
are the mighty fallen !" Crossing the western spur 
of this range, we arrived at Jenin on the evening 
of the eighth of January, in good time to make our 
arrangements for the night. This village is pleas- 
antly situated on the southern edge of the plain, and 
commands a good view of it, and of the country 
adjacent. Its Mosk and minaret, its date, palm, 
olive and orange trees ; with the hedges of prickly 
pear, as seen at a distance, give it an imposing air, 
which leads to some disappointment on a nearer 



216 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS, 



approach, especially if you have to take shelter in 
one of its miserable flat-roofed dwellings, for a 
night's repose. 

We rose at an early hour the following morning 
to greet the dawn of another lovely day. From 
the roof of our quarters we enjoyed a retrospective 
view of the distant scenery, so full of interest, on 
which we were about to gaze for the last time. 
We had spread out before us a landscape of jDeculiar 
interest, with which the eyes and footsteps of Elijah 
and Elisha were familiar. On our left, in the west, 
Garmel stretched obliquely; which, with the con- 
verging hills of Galilee, shut oft" a view of the Med- 
iterranean. Quite down in that direction, one of 
Judah's best monarchs, and her last good one, Jo- 
siah, lost his life, when, as the vassal of the King 
of Babylon, he there attempted to obstruct the 
march of Pharaoh-Necho to the Euphrates : 2 
Chron. 25: 20-23. 

Yonder hills, directly before us, in the north, 
were the rambling places of Hi^i in the early " days 
of his flesh," who, having assumed our nature, con- 
descended to a condition poor and secluded, in that 
despised place, Nazareth. Under Hermon we could 
see Shunem, where the piety of the Shunamite 
woman provided the ^Prophet's chamber 53 for Eli- 
sha. Jezreel, too, in the midst of the plain, where 
that personation of iniquity, Jezebel, met at the 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



217 



hands of Jehu, the just retribution for her cruelties, 
referred to in our previous chapter on the Mission 
of Jehu. These and other localities were before 
us ; while far away in the north, the beautiful snowy 
summit of the great Hermon was gilded by the rays 
of the rising sun. 

Leaving Jenin at eight o'clock, A. M., we entered 
a deep and narrow "Wady, which passes up in a 
southern direction into the hills of Ephraim or 
Samaria. An hour and a half brought us into the 
village of Kubatiyeh, having a large number of 
olive and pomegranate trees in the little valley be- 
low it. At ten o'clock we reached the top of an 
exceedingly rough pass at the south of Jerba. In 
another hour we passed over a wide basin of three 
or four miles in circumference, to which the Arabs, 
according to Dr. Eobinson, give the designation of 
" Drowned Meadow." It has no outlet or drainage, 
but we found it nearly dry. Soon after this we 
passed the ruined village of Saumur. Before noon 
we were up to the large village of Jeba, in the 
vicinity of which there is a great number of olive 
trees. Ascending the hill further on, we had a 
view of a small space of the Mediterranean. At 
half-past twelve, we gained an elevation which 
commanded a wide view of the sea, where we had 
twenty to thirty miles of its coast in sight, along 
which there is a wide plain extending. 

10 



218 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



At one o'clock we began a difficult descent in a 
south-east direction, towards the village of Barka, 
which, is larger and better built than most others 
we had passed, and has a fine grove of olive trees 
in the valley at the south of it. 

We now had, in the distance, a view of the u Hill 
Samaria" the terraced sides of which, with its foliage 
and verdure, at once attracted our admiration, al- 
though our Dragoman stoutly insisted that it was 
not Samaria. 

Travellers agree in extolling the beauty of its situ- 
ation, as unequalled in Palestine. It is an oblong 
elevation, rising some five or six hundred feet above 
the vallev that surrounds it, and is not far from 
three miles in circumference at its base ; its length 
extending eastward and westward. It is environed 
with hills, and must have been always dependent 
on its wells, cisterns and springs, for its supply of 
water, as there is no stream passing through the 
narrow valleys on either side. 

It would appear that there were twelve or more 
terraces, or offsets, between the base and the sum- 
mit of the hill, the highest part of which is at its 
western extremity. In " Bartlett's Sketches," there 
is a fine view of Samaria. Apart from the beauty 
of the locality, (which, with its early splendor, has 
probably been quite overrated by some travellers,) 
there are few places in Palestine of greater interest 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 219 

to the Bible student. Long the capital of the Ten 
Tribes, its history and vicissitudes have a distin- 
guished prominence on the sacred page. During the 
reign of Ahab, Jezreel, some thirty miles distant 
at the north, seems to have divided with it the 
honors of the court. 

"We ascended the hill by a gradual path leading 
towards the eastern extremity; and when about 
half way up, we came unexpectedly upon an ex- 
tensive ruin, of eighteen limestone columns stand- 
ing, and one or more prostrated, about two feet in 
diameter, by fifteen to twenty feet in length. There 
may have been others lying on the ground, as we 
did not ride to the extremity of the area, which was 
tilled, and the wheat considerably advanced. They 
occupy a level space of about six hundred feet in 
length by three hundred feet wide, the side of the 
hill having been excavated to secure the level area 
of the parallelogram. 

We are not aware that any other traveller has 
noticed these ruins except Maundrell, who evidently 
refers to them alone. He was here in March, A. D. 
1696. They escaped the observation of Drs. .Rob- 
inson and Smith, in their visit here in June, 1838. 
It is difficult satisfactorily to account for the original 
design of these ruins. They belong, without doubt, 
to the period of Herod the Great. The location 
seems well adapted for a stadium or amphitheatre. 



220 SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

There is not the least indication that it was the site 
of a palace, although of larger extent ; yet, from 
the strong resemblance it has to some of the Eoman 
temples at Pompeii, we were strongly inclined to 
the opinion that such was the design of the struc- 
ture. The space occupied well corresponds to the 
temple spoken of by Josephus. 

This, and other similar ruins which we shall men- 
tion, are, doubtless, rightly attributed to Herod, 
who, we are informed, rebuilt and adorned Samaria, 
and in honor of Augustus, named it Sebaste. The 
principles of Herod would make it quite consistent 
for him to rebuild or beautify the temple of the 
Jews, at Jerusalem, while, at Samaria, he reared 
another, in which, his patron Augustus should be 
the presiding hero or deity. 

Herod surrounded Samaria with a strong wail, 
but we did not discover any traces of it remaining. 
Josephus ascribes this to his desire to fortify him- 
self against the people, as well as to perpetuate his 
own fame. He remarks: "And when he went 
about building the wall of Samaria, he contrived 
to bring thither many of those that had assisted 
him in his wars, and many of the people in that 
neighborhood also, whom he made fellow-citizens 
with the rest. This he did out of an ambitious de- 
sire of building a temple, and out of a desire to 
make the city more eminent than it had been be- 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 221 

fore ; but principally because he contrived that it 
might at once be for its own security, and a monu- 
ment of his magnificence. He also changed its 
name, and called it Sebaste. Besides all which he 
compassed the city with a wall of great strength, 
and made use of the acclivity of the place for mak- 
ing its fortifications stronger. Now within and 
about the middle of it he built a sacred place, and 
adorned it with all sorts of decorations, and therein 
erected a temple, which was illustrious on account 
of both its largeness and beauty ; and as to the 
elegance of the building, it was taken care of also, 
that he might leave monuments of the fineness of 
his taste, and of his beneficence, to future ages." 
Joseph. Ant. B. 15 : 8. In another chapter he in- 
forms us that, on the occasion of the completion of 
these structures, Herod made a magnificent banquet, 
and that "Julia, Caesar's wife, sent a great part of 
her valuable furniture" to add to the splendor of 
the occasion. Some allowance must be made for 
his proneness to exaggerate. 

Pursuing our way up the hill, we soon came to 
the church of St. John the Baptist, standing on 
the verge of the precipitous eastern brow of the 
hill. This is the most perfect ruin of the kind in 
Palestine. The walls of the edifice are principally 
standing. Within their enclosure is the reputed 
tomb of John, in honor of whom the church was 



222 SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

originally erected. It is now used also as a Mo- 
hammedan Mosk. Tradition at an early period 
fixed upon this spot as the place where the body 
of John was interred after he had been beheaded 
by order of Herod Antipas. 

The generally -received opinion that the Baptist 
was beheaded in the castle of Machaerus, on the 
east of the Dead Sea, rests entirely upon a brief 
statement of Josephus. "Herod," he says, "feared 
lest the great influence John had over the people 
might put it in his power and inclination to raise a 
rebellion. He therefore thought best, by putting 
him to death, to prevent any mischief he might 
cause. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of 
Herod's suspicious temper, to Machaerus, and was 
there put to death." 

The reason here assigned for this act of Herod's, 
differs so entirely from those of the Evangelists, 
Matthew and Mark, as appropriately to induce an 
inquiry into the grounds of its credibility. Jose- 
phus was born five or seven years subsequent to 
the event he narrates. His book of Jewish Anti- 
quities was written by him in Eome, after the de- 
struction of the Jewish state, and probably quite as 
late as A. D. 80. The fact that John had been put 
to death by Herod, was doubtless only known to 
him by means of popular tradition, which most ob- 
viously led him into error in regard to the true 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 223 

reasons which swayed Herod in the commission of 
this atrocious act, and we may reasonably infer that 
he was equally liable to be deceived in regard to 
his place of imprisonment and execution. We be- 
lieve the grounds of evidence greatly preponderate 
against him. 

From Mark we learn (1.) that John was impris- 
oned at the instigation of Herodias. Chap. 6: 17. 
(2.) That he was beheaded at the urgent request 
of the daughter of Herodias. Y. 24. (3.) That 
Herod felt very great repugnance to comply with 
his promise to the daughter of Herodias, although 
it had been made under the sanction of an oath. 
Y. 26. (4.) The execution was ordered, and the 
head of the Baptist immediately produced to gratify 
the morbid desire of a vicious woman. Y. 27, 28. 
(5.) We learn that the guests of this birth-day ban- 
quet were the chief officers of Herod's army, and 
persons of distinction in Galilee. Y. 21. 

From the facts thus clearly stated by the Evan- 
gelist, and others considerations that occur to us, 
we have little doubt that this feast was celebrated 
in the midst of Galilee, either at Sepphoris ; which 
lay a little north-west of Nazareth, which Antipas 
had strongly walled and made the metropolis of his 
Tetrarchy, or at Tiberias, his new and favorite city. 
The character, also, of very many of the guests — 
Galileans — seems to forbid the idea that it was eel- 



224 SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 

ebrated in the distant region east of the Jordan or 
Dead Sea, in the fortress of Machaerus, on the very 
confines of, if not within the dominions of Aretas, 
the father of Herod's repudiated wife, and who on 
that account was justly his most bitter enemy. In 
view of these suggestions, we are inclined, even in 
the face of authority eminently entitled to consider- 
ation, to regard Samaria as by no means an improb- 
able place for the interment of John, and this tradi- 
tional tomb as entitled to more than ordinary 
respect. 

The village is immediately adjacent to the 
church, and the villagers soon gathered around us 
in large numbers. Their appearance verified the 
bad reputation they sustain. Similarly circum- 
stanced, a more savage-looking set I do not care 
again to meet. Having expressed our wish to ex- 
amine the interior of the building, and settling upon 
the amount of bakhshish, which was paid in advance, 
we dismounted from our horses, leaving them in 
charge of my servant — a stout German, and an 
armed Arab, whom we had prudently taken with 
us from Nazareth. Descending into the sunken 
court in front of the building, we entered the door 
of the enclosed ruin. I at once saw that the Arabs 
were crowding in also, and insisted upon our drag- 
oman's preventing it, but he had no apprehension 
of the danger, which was soon apparent. We had 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



225 



barely begun our examinations, and were just at 
tile head of a flight of stairs which led clown to the 
tomb of the Baptist, when our attention was arrested 
by the closing of the door, and the loud demand of 
" bakhshish" saluted our ears, while our Greek drag- 
oman was struggling in the crowd around him to 
re-open the door. 

It was a scene of intense interest for a few mo- 
ments ! "We were prisoners, in not very enviable 
keeping; three ladies and two gentlemen, entirely 
unarmed. Fortunately for us, there were two par- 
ties among the Arabs, — our armed man without, 
and Grieovana within, aided by those who sided with 
them, soon re-opened the door, and we were willing 
to leave, with a much less minute examination of 
the premises than we had designed. 

Again on our horses, I drew from my pocket a 
large black opera glass used for perspective pur- 
poses, examining it with some significant intima- 
tions that it might be well to keep at good distance 
when that was produced. The Arabs are under the 
impression that Europeans are always " armed to 
the teeth," and I had no doubt that they supposed 
my glass to be a powerful weapon. 

We determined not to be deterred from an ex- 
amination of the place ; so we rode past the village 
westward, and soon came to an area on a level with 
the third or fourth terrace below the summit, on 

10* 



226 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



which is a cluster of fifteen or more limestone 
columns similar in size to those before referred to. 
On a full examination of the subject I deem them 
to have formed part of a grand Propylaea or Por- 
tico to the colonnade which extends along on the 
southern side of the hill on nearly the same level, 
and which Drs. Robinson and Smith traced for 
more than three thousand feet. About one hundred 
of the columns still stand erect in their original po- 
sition. It was obviously in its time a very splen- 
did affair. "We now rode farther westward to the 
summit of the hill ; the terraces are so steep that 
it required some horsemanship to ride up their 
sides. This western extremity is considerably the 
highest part. Here is a level space of some extent, 
covered with olive trees and under cultivation, as 
are the sides and slopes of the hill according to the 
words of the prophet: "Therefore I will make Sa- 
maria as an heap of the field and as plantings of a 
vineyard ; and I will pour down the stones thereof 
into the valley, and I will discover the foundations 
thereof." Micah, 1 : 6. 

Here we had a fine view of the large number of 
standing columns on the terrace below. The whole 
scene was imposing : the surrounding hills, with the 
green and beautiful valley opening out in the west, 
and an extended view of the Mediterranean with its 
adjacent plain. 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



227 



In the unchanged habits of life, and much that 
meets our eyes in these regions, we feel transported 
back, holding converse with primitive times. Here 
is a spot, long gilded by the pageants of royalty, 
but now in the depths of degradation. What 
changes have come over it in the lapse of more than 
twenty-eight centuries, since the day that Omri 
4 'bought the Hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents 
of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name 
of the city which he built, after the name of She- 
mer, owner of the hill Samaria, I Kings, 16 : 24. 

Dark and baleful as the record is, yet shall Sa- 
maria be made to subserve some good to succeeding 
ages, and not alone as a beacon of warning to those 
who corrupt the pure worship of God. A simple 
incident in its siege, by the Syrian arnry of Ben 
Hadad, recorded 2 Kings, 6th and 7th chapters, is 
full of instruction, and will remain to the latest 
ages of time to subserve and illustrate the ample 
provisions of the Gospel. 

How many of our race under the felt pressure of 
sin's burdens and sin's perils — that leprosy within 
— while meditating the conclusions of the four fam- 
ishing " leprous men, at the entering in at the gate," 
2 Kings, 7 : 3, 4, have betaken themselves, with- 
out reserve, to the foot of the cross, and found there 
the balm of Gilead for sin's maladies, and the bread 
of life for famishing souls, without money and with- 



228 



SAMARIA AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



out price ? It is no very improbable conjecture, 
that when " Philip went down to the city of Sa- 
maria, and preached Christ unto them," he began 
at "this same Scripture" to unfold his fitness to 
their wants as sinners. 

Standing on this summit with the narrative in 
your hand, you may vividly imagine the Syrian 
army spread in the valley, around this famishing 
and beleagured city : and with the landscape be- 
fore you, it is interesting to discover some of those 
circumstances which seem to have concurred with 
miraculous interposition, to verify, by natural re- 
sults, the predictions of the prophet, " to-morrow, 
about this time, shall a measure of fine flour be sold 
for a shekel." 

The Syrians had invaded the land, doubtless by 
the usual caravan track from Damascus to Egypt, 
which, passing a little to the north-west of the lake 
of Tiberias, drops into the plains of Esdraelon, near 
the western base of Tabor ; and they had in allprob- 
dbility approached Samaria by the very trad: we have 
described in our journey here. The panic which 
seized upon the besieging army, arose from an ap- 
prehension of the sudden approach of an Egyptian 
army: "For the Lord had made the host of the 
Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of 
horses." The natural course for such succor to 
approach, would be by the way of the Mediterranean 



SAMARIA AND ITS 



M N D M E NTS . 



229 



plain, and up the narrow valley, which opens in 
that direction, in the west. Add to this the noise of 
"BIttites" from the south-east, over the hills in that 
direction. This would preclude any escape from 
them, except over the mountainous and difficult 
passes at the north, by which they had invaded the 
land. To take luggage, or even animals, in such 
haste, would be all but hopeless, "wherefore they 
arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, 
and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled 
for their life.'" The course of escape would thus be 
toward the plains of Esdraelon, and so to the Jor- 
dan. Such as at first took baggage would fling it 
away in the difficult passes ; and so we read : " And 
they went after them unto Jordan : and lo, all the 
way was full of garments and vessels which the 
Syrians had cast away in their haste" — " ; So a meas- 
ure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two 
measures of barley for a shekel, according to the 
word of the Lord;* 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



MOUNT GERIZDI AND JACOB'S WELL. 

Departure from Samaria— Lunch by the way — Ride to Nablous — Late arrival — 
Ebal and Gerizim — Night at Nablous — Journey resumed — Visit to the Sama- 
ritan Synagogue — Their ancient Pentateuch — Visit to Mount Gerizim — 
Samaritan Keblah— Ruins of an ancient fortress — Scenery in view — Reflec- 
tions on past history — Descent into the valley — The Tomb of Joseph— Its 
identity — The well of Jacob — Christ at the well — Scripture authenticated. 

We left the Hill Samaria at three o'clock, P. M., 
by a steep descent on the east of the ruins of the 
church of St. John the Baptist Our recent exciting 
adventure within its walls had not entirely lost its 
impression, and we were thankful to get safely 
away from this notoriously bad community. The 
path by which we descended is a steep and narrow 
gorge, the sides of which are partially walled up, 
and we observed in it numerous pieces of cut stone 
and marble, the vestiges of Samaria's ancient 
grandeur. 

We crossed the narrow valley on the south-east, 
and at the margin of the opposite hills, by the side 
of a spring, spread our table-cloth and lunched at 
half-past three o'clock. We soon remounted our 
horses, and hastened on our journey over the rugged 



MOUNT GERIZIM. 



231 



hills that intervene between Samaria and Nablous. 
An hour and a half brought us over the green 
valley which separates Ebal and Gerizim, here 
opening westward, descending into which, our path 
conducted us in an eastern direction along the 
northern side of the valley, which is here about 
one-fourth of a mile wide. On our left, high above 
us, hung the naked, rocky and precipitous sides of 
Ebal, in which numerous openings of tombs are 
seen, and high up towards its summit stands a small 
and lone church and monastery. The mountains 
gradually impinge upon the valley, forming a deep 
gorge, in which numerous springs gush from the 
mountain's base, and flow off irrigating the land, 
and presenting an aspect of fertility such as we had 
nowhere seen in Palestine. The patches of wheat 
and barley were considerably advanced on the 
ninth of January. The water here descends to- 
wards the Mediterranean, Nablous being on or near 
the summit of the water-shed, while the drainage 
east of the town descends towards the Jordan. This 
singular circumstance Dr. Eobinson was the first 
traveller to notice. 

It was nearly dark before we reached and enter- 
ed the narrow streets of the village, and we began 
to feel some anxiety to know what provision our 
Arab dragoman, who had preceded us with the 
luggage, had made for the night. We were met, 



232 



MOUNT GERIZIM 



however, at the western gate, and conducted to 
comfortable apartments in the house of a Christian 
Arab, where we placed our beds, and enjoyed a 
quiet night. 

The following morning we rose at an early hour, 
and left our quarters at half-past seven. Our first 
object was a visit to the Samaritans, who reside in 
the western part of the town. They now consist., 
as they informed us, of twenty families, still retain- 
ing, on this their ancient soil, all the peculiar char- 
acteristics of the sect. There is little, however, in 
their external appearance to distinguish them from 
the Arabs around them. Their Synagogue and an- 
cient Pentateuch were the chief objects of our cu- 
riosity. While on our way, we passed some of the 
most luxuriant, large, and beautiful orange trees 
that I have ever seen either in the "West Indies or 
the south of Europe. They were loaded with fruit, 
and were truly magnificent. The oranges of Pales- 
tine are remarkably fine ; Sidon and Jaffa are the 
principal places where they are produced. 

Arrived at the Samaritan quarters, we were con- 
ducted through one or two buildings to the door of 
the Synagogue. Here, as in the Mosks of Constan- 
tinople, we were required to take off our boots and 
substitute slippers, before we entered the sacred en- 
closure. It is a small arched stone-building, rude 
in its appearance, the floor partially covered with 



and Jacob's well. 



233 



mats. We informed the old priest that we were 
Americans. We had in our hands Dr. Kobinson's 
account of his visit to them, some twelve years be- 
fore, which circumstance excited considerable cu- 
riosity in the minds of the Samaritans, and induced 
them to produce their manuscript Pentateuch, for 
which they claim an antiquity of thirty -five hundred 
years ! It is rolled on two connected scrolls, pre- 
served with great care, and bears decided marks of 
antiquity ; whether it is more than five to seven 
hundred years old may well be doubted. 

ISTo other vestige of this remarkable sect is known 
to exist ; their perpetuity is a singular fact in his- 
tory, in which the designs of Providence may here- 
after be better understood. 

From their synagogue we next proceeded to their 
Keblah, on Mount Gerizim. Pursuing the usual 
way of ascent, which we found so steep that our 
horses with difficulty sustained their riders, we 
reached the western level in half an hour, and in a 
quarter more arrived over the eastern precipice of 
the mountain, on the northern verge of which there 
are the ruins of an ancient and very formidable 
castle, which Dr. Eobinson refers to the times of 
Justinian. This point commands an extensive and 
fine view — in the w^est, of the Mediterranean, the 
great sea of the ancients, — on the east, the moun- 
tains of Moab and Amnion are distinctly visible. 



234 



MOUNT GERIZIM 



In such, a spot, surrounded by such, associations, 
the thrilling events of centuries rush in upon one's 
thoughts. This is the sacred place of the Samari- 
tan ; here stood their ancient temple ; near at hand 
is their great place of sacrifice ; toward this point 
they always turn in prayer ; and here they repair 
in great solemnity at the four great annual festivals. 
The foundations of an edifice are distinctly traced, 
which was, in all probability, their temple. Ebal — 
drear and solemn, whence the curses were to be 
denounced, — extends along on the north, and far 
away beyond it the snowy Anti-Lebanon rears his 
giant head. Into this long, narrow, and beautiful 
valley at our feet, which stretches away in the south 
and east, Abmm, the father of the faithful, came, 
after his departure from Haran, Genesis, 12 : 6, and 
here the Lord appeared unto him " and said, unto 
thy seed will I give this land." Here Jacob re- 
paired as he " came from Padan-Aram and pitched 
his tent before the city." Genesis, 33 : 18. The 
site of " Shalem" is marked by one of the little vil- 
lages on the rising ground, some two miles in the 
distance in the north-east. Here, too, at our left, in 
the valley below, " he bought a parcel of a field, 
where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the 
children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred 
pieces of money." 

Here Joseph came, wearing his coat of many 



and Jacob's well. 



235 



colors, when at the command of his father, Jacob, 
he sought his brethren to inquire whether it " were 
well with them, and well with their flocks?" Gen. 
87 : 12. That the passion for various colors, in the 
stripes of their narrow-skirted outside cloak, which 
is worn by the Arabs, owes its origin to Joseph's 
envied garment, there is little doubt in my mind. 

On the sides of this mountain, and in the vallev 
under it, one half of the tribes of Israel, by com- 
mand of Moses, were to assemble and pronounce the 
blessings upon the faithful, while on the sides of 
Ebal, before us, the other half were to denounce the 
curses on the disobedient — Deut. 27 : 12 — in obedi- 
ence to which, Joshua convened the people, a half 
of them over against Mount Grerizim, and half of 
them over against Mount Ebal and subsequently, 
at the close of his eventful life, they were gathered 
here to receive his dying charge — Josh. 8th and 
24th ch. — at which time, it would seem, they in- 
terred the bones of Joseph — perhaps the mummied 
body had been preserved. Here occurred the sad 
catastrophe of disunion, after the death of Solomon. 
1 Kings, 12. 

At half-past ten o'clock we left this interesting 
spot, and began our descent into the Nablous val- 
ley, by an exceedingly steep ravine, half a mile east 
of the village. In half an hour we reached the 
plain, where there is a fine olive grove. This val- 



236 



MOUNT GERIZIM 



ley, formed by Ebal and Gerizirn, and running east- 
ward and westward, opens into another, already re- 
ferred to, which, extends several miles in a south- 
east direction ; just at the junction of which valleys, 
the Tomb of Joseph is situated in the plain, nearly 
under the eastern spur of Ebal, while the Well of 
Jacob is on or under Gerizim. Many, indeed, are 
the events of history which concur to render this 
valley a spot memorable in its annals ; but all 
others fade into insignificance, before the simple re- 
lation of that of a traveller who more than eighteen 
centuries ago, lone and " wearied with his journey, 
sat thus on the well : and it was about the sixth 
hour,'' when " there cometh a woman of Samaria to 
draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to 
drink." We first rode over the valley to the Tomb 
of Joseph, over which now stands a low stone 
building — a Mohammedan Wely. "We see no good 
reason to call in question the identity of this spot, 
as the place where the bodies of Joseph and his 
brethren were buried by Joshua. Stephen, in his 
address before the Jewish Sanhedrim, expressly re- 
fers to all the twelve patriarchs as having been 
buried here. Acts, 7: 15, 16. A learned critic 
gives the text this rendering: — "Jacob died, he 
and our fathers, they were carried over to Sychem 
and buried ; he (Jacob) in the sepulchre which 
Abraham bought for a sum of money, and they (the 



and Jacob's well, 



23T 



patriarchs) in that which was bought of the son of 
Emmor, the father of Sychem." We then repaired 
to the Well of Jacob. While on our way I took 
out my Bible and read aloud the fourth chapter of 
John's Gospel, with an interest never before realized. 
To us, whose home is in the far West, what won- 
drous words were those that it is not "in this moun- 
tain' 5 before us, "nor yet at Jerusalem" only, men 
are to " worship the Father. But the hour cometh, 
and now is. when the true worshippers shall worship 
the Father in spirit and in truth.'' 

On our approach to the place which tradition 
and history unite in pointing out as the spot where 
this wonderful conversation was held with the 
woman of Samaria, my attention was arrested by 
the emphatic language of the woman : " Our fathers 
worshipped in this mountain,' 1 and pointed out to 
the surprise and delight of our party, that the Well 
was above the valley, and actually on the base or 
spur of Gerizim, almost directly under where we 
had stood an hour before ! 

A number of old columns are scattered around, 
composing a part of the ruins of an ancient church 
which was once erected over this spot. The stones 
which cover the top of the well are so contracted 
as to leave but a small opening, and we had no 
time to remove them, or attempt a particular exam- 



238 MOUNT GERIZIM AND JACOB'S WELL. 

ination. We ascertained that "the well is deep," 
by dropping small stones into the aperture. 

The circumstance before referred to, so deeply 
affected my own mind, that it has been one of the 
chief designs of this sketch to call attention to the 
words " this mountain" as used in the 20th and 21st 
verses of the chapter ; and the original Greek text 
is still more emphatic. It impressed me at the mo- 
ment, while on the ground, as peculiarly interesting, 
and as one of those incidental evidences with which 
the Scriptures abound, and which we everywhere 
met, of the accuracy of the sacred historians, and as 
another confirmation of the authenticity and inspir- 
ation of Scripture. 

It is not alone in the sublimity of the announce- 
ment, " God is a Spirit, and they that worship him 
must worship him in spirit and in truth :" the accu- 
racy of the descriptions and narratives of the Bible, 
even in incidentals, challenges our faith, and I see 
new reasons for believing that this Gospel of John, 
as well as all other Scripture, was written by in- 
spired direction: "Holy men" of old writing " as 
they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 



CHAPTER XXY. 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 

Departure from the Well of Jacob— Ride in the valley where Abraham and 
Jacob fed their flocks— Night at Sinjil — Journey to Jerusalem Vineyards — 
Lunch at Bethel— Jacob at Bethel— Ramah and Gibeon— Songs of Degrees — 
View of Jerusalem — Entrance of the city — Thankful recollections. 

It was nearly eleven o'clock, A. M., when we left 
the Well of Jacob, and proceeded on our way over the 
usual track toward Jerusalem. We had now before 
us a journey of two days, with little in the route 
of special interest to attract a traveller's atten- 
tion. Our course for an hour and a half lay over 
the long and narrow valley which extends in a 
south-easterly direction, and on which Abraham 
and Jacob of old were wont to feed their flocks ; 
another hour was spent in climbing and descend- 
ing a rough ridge and entering one of those narrow 
green valleys peculiar to this region, and which 
present so striking a contrast to the sterile and 
rocky hills which overhang them. 

Now we had the village of Lubban, the Lebonah 
of the Old Testament, Judges, 21 : 9, on our right. 
In this vicinity, and extending for some miles, the 
limestone formation of the hills adjacent to the 



240 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 



valleys, is very remarkable, and will claim the at- 
tention of the geologist, having regular offsets, 
bearing a striking resemblance to artificial terra- 
cing: in fact, we had little doubt that they were 
cultivated in better days. At three o' clock, P. M., 
we reached the ruined khan and fountain of Lub- 
ban, where we rested a short time, and watered our 
horses. Dr. Eobinson found the site of the ancient 
Shilo an hour's distance from this point, up the 
valley on our left, but out of the direct road. To 
our great regret the lateness of the hour would not 
admit our turning aside to see that interesting loca- 
tion, with which the history of Samuel is so beau- 
tifully identified, (I Samuel, 2d and 3d chapter,) 
and we were compelled to mount the rugged hill 
before us, and at half-past four o'clock reached the 
village of Sinjil, where we stopped for the night, 
This elevated situation commands a good view of 
the Mediterranean on the south-west. 

With a cloudless sky over our heads, at an early 
hour the following morning, Friday, the eleventh 
of January, as we left Sinjil, our feelings warmed 
with the anticipation that before the sun sank in 
the western horizon, we might literally say with the 
psalmist, " Our feet shall stand within thy gates, 
Jerusalem." An hour onward we noticed for the 
first time in our journey a vineyard of some ex- 
tent The grape is doubtless cultivated in other 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 



241 



places in Palestine, but we nowhere saw it but here 
and at Hebron. At eleven o'clock, A. M., we 
passed the village of Ain Yebrud, and at half-past 
twelve, P. M., we reached the site of Bethel, identified 
by Dr. Eobinson. Here we ate our lunch, and 
gathered specimens of the broken agate stones, 
which, with pebbles of chalcedon, and various 
others, so thickly cover the ground, one might well 
infer that Jacob had the stones of the place for his 
Bed, as well as for his Pillow, on that ever mem- 
orable occasion when here " he tarried all night," 
as he fled from the face of Esau to Padan-Aram." 

It must have required three or four days for 
Jacob to walk over the distance from Beersheba to 
Bethel ; and we may reasonably infer that this was 
the fourth night since his departure from the pa- 
ternal tent and doting care of a too fond mother, to 
pursue his lonely and distant journey " toward 
Haran." We have good reason to believe that this 
severe trial had now been religiously improved by 
him ; and that, thinking on his ways, he had exer- 
cised a Godly sorrow for all his sins, especially for 
the unwarrantable means resorted to in obtaining the 
birth-right blessing of Isaac his father. The laws of 
heaven's kingdom have been virtually the same un- 
der all dispensations. The promise has run, " Thus 
saith the Lord : to this man will I look, even to him 
that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth 

11 



242 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 



at my word." Jacob can now, with confiding trust, 
lay himself down with, only the stones of the place 
for his pillow, while the angels of the Lord encamp- 
ed as a protecting wall of fire round about him to 
deliver him. 

Leaving Bethel, we soon reached the village of 
Bireh, the ancient Beeroth. Here are the ruins of 
a kakn, and of a Christian church of the times of 
the Crusaders. At three o'clock, P. M., we had Er 
Earn, or Eamah, on our left, and on the south-west 
Gibeon and Neby Samuel ; the latter the highest 
ground in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and identified 
by Dr. Eobinson as the Mizpah of Scripture. 

"We were now, in all probability, on the battle- 
ground of Joshua with Adoni-zedek and his con- 
federates, Joshua, 10th chapter. The sun, as seen 
by us, was now standing directly over Gribeon, as 
in the day when Joshua " said in the sight of all 
Israel, sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou 
moon in the valley of Ajalon." 

Our path was now ascending for an hour over 
one of the most rocky and desolate regions we had 
seen. There are in places such masses of small and 
loose stones, they seem piled as for monuments. 
Our ride to-clay has been among the mountains of 
Ephraim. They are exceedingly rocky, and the 
intervening valleys are thickly bedded with stones 
and debris, 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 



243 



As we slowly advanced, our thoughts ran back 
to those days when the gathering tribes of Israel 
were wont, in long processions, to traverse the same 
path, as they went to attend their annual festivals, 
chanting, as they proceeded, those devout and beau- 
tiful Psalms, the " Songs of Degrees" In imitation 
of so excellent an example, we read them aloud 
with new and unwonted delight. We could hardly 
realize that we were amid such scenes of interest, 
while we read, "I was glad when they said unto 
me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet 
shall stand within thy gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem 
is builded as a city that is compact together ; whither 
the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the 
testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name 
of the Lord." 

It was four o'clock, P. M., when we reached the 
high ground on the north of Jerusalem, and less than 
an hour's distance from the " Holy City." This was 
the ancient Scopus (the prospect) of Josephus, B. W. 
V : 3, u from whence the city already began to be 
seen, and a plain view might be taken of the great 
Temple." Here it was that the legion of Titus es- 
pied the devoted city and Temple, and made their 
encampment, on their approach for its subjugation, 
and, as it resulted, utter destruction. 

Each of us in perfect silence urged his steed 
along to catch the first glimpse of those once sacred 



244 GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 

precincts. Soon the dome of the Mosque of Omar, 
covering the site of Solomon's Temple, met our eye, 
an early intimation, if one could be needed, of the 
Moslem's sway ; and now the Dome of the Holy 
Sepulchre comes into view ; and ere long the whole 
city, with its Saracenic towers and walls, was spread 
out before us. We hastened onward to reach the 
enclosure ere the gates should be shut, at the signal 
of the setting sun. Crossing the Yalley of Jehosa- 
phat we proceeded to the Damascus Gate on the 
N. W., through which the Shepherds w r ere leading 
their flocks into the city for safety for the night, a 
practice common in all the villages and cities. As 
we were not from Damascus, we were refused ad- 
mission here, and were compelled to proceed to the 
Jaffa or Bethlehem gate, where we arrived just in 
time to secure admittance. Passing through the 
narrow streets of the city-, nearly back to the Da- 
mascus gate, we entered the house, and ascended to 
the comfortable apartments which our Dragoman 
had provided for us, with a Maltese, who, here on 
the sides of Acra, conducts a Hotel. We much pre- 
ferred this to taking up our quarters, as is usual, in 
one of the Convents. To our great pleasure we found 
our dome-roofed apartments, constructed on the 
top of the flat-roofed house, overlooked a large part 
of the city, with the Mount of Olives in full and 
unobstructed view before us. 



GOING UP TO JERUSALEM. 



245 



Few indeed have been the Pilgrims within her 
gates, who have had such cause for grateful ac- 
knowledgment to Zion's King. Most remarkable 
had been the orderings of his good providence, 
under which guidance our journey, at this usually 
rainy season, had been prosecuted for twelve suc- 
cessive days under an almost cloudless sky, save the 
morning of the Sabbath, which we had spent at 
Tiberias. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



WALKS ABOUT ZION, 

First impressions — Topographic features unchanged— Modern Walls— Popula- 
tion of Jerusalem — The Jews — Their place of wailing — Mosk of Omar — 
Kedron Valley — A Storm-Brook — Popular error— Calvary — Church of Holy 
Sepulchre — Miracles of the church — Gross superstitions — Greek chapel — 
Centre of the earth. 

Oue first impressions on walking about Jerusa- 
lem were an agreeable disappointment to find it, as 
compared with other eastern cities, so well built, 
and surrounded with walls and battlements so im- 
posing. Another source of surprise was the limited 
area occupied by the city. Other pre-conceived 
opinions have to be corrected as one walks about 
Zion. 

Few as are the monuments of its ancient popula- 
tion or glory that remain, we yet found two weeks 
spent in it and the immediate vicinity, quite too 
short a period to make all the investigations that 
were desirable. * 

Its ancient topographical features are marked 
and mainly unchanged. Its hills and valleys, its 
anciently constructed tombs and pools, afford an 
ample and interesting field for investigation. We 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



247 



aimed to see them for ourselves, as well as to be 
availed of the research of those who had preceded 
us. The walls that now surround Jerusalem are 
Saracenic. They were rebuilt, of hewn stone, ob- 
viously of old materials, and well laid up, by order 
of the Sultan Suleiman, A. D. 1542, and have been 
preserved in good condition. The area embraced 
within their limits is the northern half of Mount 
Zion — the whole of the ancient temple area — Mor- 
iah, and a portion of Acra and Bezetha, on the west 
and north, the circumference of which, as measured 
by Drs. Bobinson and Smith, is two and a half 
miles. One might easily pass around the entire cir- 
cuit in an hour. The ancient walls could not have 
included much, more than double this amount of 
territory. Josephus informs us that the whole com- 
pass of the ancient city was thirty-three stadia. 
The large population sometimes gathered within its 
limits can be easily reconciled to this, when we 
take into the account the narrow streets and small 
spaces occupied for yard, as well as the modes of 
social life, which would admit of a dense population 
in a small space. The height of the walls is vari- 
able, as the surface over which they pass is very un- 
even ; some portions of them not being over twenty- 
five feet, while on the south and east there are places 
two or three times that height. They afford an 
ample protection against assaults from the Arab 



248 



WALKS ABOUT ZION, 



tribes, but would be no obstruction to European 
arms and modern engines of war. 

The population of the city is variously estimated. 
We apprehend it does not much exceed the number 
in Dr. Eobinson's calculation when here, twelve 
years previous to our visit. He estimated the num- 
ber then to be about eleven thousand, divided as 
follows : four thousand five hundred Mohammed- 
ans ; three thousand five hundred Christians ; and 
three thousand Jews. Others have regarded the 
population as amounting to full twenty thousand. 
The Eev. John Mcholayson, whose kind attentions 
deserve a grateful recognition, who has resided in 
Jerusalem more than twenty -five years in the dou- 
ble capacity of chaplain to the British Consulate, 
and as missionary to the Jewish population, in- 
formed us that he thought there were nearly seven 
thousand Jews then residing in the city. Large 
numbers of them are from Germany and Poland ; 
others are Spanish Jews, the descendants of those 
who were expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and 
Isabella. Many of them come here in advanced 
age, that their bones may be deposited on the base 
and sides of Olivet, nearly opposite the temple area, 
where the stones which indicate the resting-place 
of multitudes, with their Hebrew inscriptions, are 
\2adi flatly on the ground. They are supported, to a 
great extent, by contributions from the Jews resid- 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



249 



ing in Europe. Few have been converts from their 
number to Christianity. "We were informed that 
they vigilantly watch one another ; and if any ex- 
hibit the least indications of a disposition to inquire 
into the foundations of the Christian faith, they are 
immediately cut off from the general fund, on which 
they mainly depend for support. It was an affect- 
ing sight to witness them at the " place of wailing," 
under the high western wall which supports the 
temple area, as they there sat before the very stones 
which Solomon placed in their present position, 
while in sorrowful chants they read aloud from their 
Hebrew volumes their doleful and unavailing la- 
ment over their national dispersion and ruin. 

The Mosh of Omar, on Moriah, which for the last 
twelve hundred years has occupied the site of the an- 
cient temple, is the most imposing object within the 
city walls. The area enclosed is a space of fifteen 
hundred feet in length, from north to south, and 
one thousand feet wide. The Mosk itself is an oc- 
tagon, surmounted by a large dome. Each side of 
the octagon is seventy feet, and has seven windows 
with stained glass, except those facing the cardinal 
points, which have six windows and a door. The 
body of the building is of white marble, and blue- 
tinted marble interlarded, above which are varie- 
gated tiles. A close balustrade surmounts the angles 
of the sides, from which a roof gently rises towards 

11* 



250 



WALKS ABOUT ZTOX, 



the centre to the height of the balustrade, oyer 
which the large dome rises to the height of ninety 
feet above the paved platform on which it stands. 
As viewed from the top of the citadel, the site of 
the ancient Castle of Antonia, on the north side of 
the area, and which was the nearest approach we 
were allowed to make, we judged the dome to be 
about forty -five feet high, or one-half the entire 
elevation. There is said to be a spring of water 
under the Mosk, which it is thought may have a 
communication with the " fountain of the Virgin," in 
the Kedron Valley below it ; and the whole area is 
occupied by ancient subterranean cisterns or reser- 
voirs. No Christian can enter the enclosure but 
at the peril of his life. Jerusalem has very few 
structures of which a Jewish origin can be predicat- 
ed, if we except the fountains or reservoirs, which 
doubtless had a very early origin. The foundations 
and part of the superstructure of the " Tower of 
David," or Hippicus, and a portion of the wall 
.around the temple area, are easily identified, by the 
bevel of the stones, as of great antiquity. The 
Tombs, also, in the valleys of Hinnom and Jehosh- 
aphat, as well as others in the vicinity of the city, 
are referable to the Jewish period. 

What if we cannot look upon the once gorgeous 
temple of Solomon, (or Herod,) on Moriah ; or visit 
the palace in which David and Hezekiah dwelt on 



WALKS ABOUT Z I N . 



251 



Mount Zion ; tlie eminences on which they stood 
are still distinct, and the general surface not materi- 
ally changed. The Valle} r of the Son of Hinnom 
makes the same circuit around Zion, and forms its 
ancient junction with the Valley of Jehoshaphat or 
Kedron, in its deep and rapid descent, over which 
Olivet still hangs its sides, with all its ancient out- 
lines undisturbed. The bed of the Kedron is still 
a dry water-course, as it must have ever been, ex- 
cept immediately upon seasons of severe rain, for a 
few brief hours. — a fact which the traveller is gen- 
erally not expecting to find. The direct rendering 
of the name Kedron, (the turbid,) from the original 
of the New Testament, where it simply implies a 
storm brook, into our version as the brooJc Kedron, 
has been the occasion of conveying to the mind of 
the English reader an entirely erroneous impression 
in regard to the character of this steep valley. We 
have not unfrequently met with even well-read 
clergymen, whose preconceived opinions had affixed 
impressions stronger than all their reading on this 
subject, and who could hardly believe that a peren- 
nial stream does not gently glide through this steep 
and ragged Wady. The continued prevalence of 
this wide-spread error in regard to an important 
topographical fact, is fraught with unhappy influ- 
ence, and should be corrected. 

We are here warranted in a remark, which we 



252 



W A L K S ABOU T ZION. 



make because of its truth, and with, no unkind feel- 
ings to any one. There are, we feel quite assured, 
doubtless, tens, and more probably hundreds of 
thousands of otherwise generally intelligent persons, 
even in our own land, who have received the im- 
pression, or have been taught to believe, as we our- 
selves were at a period of our early life, that the 
" Brook Kedron" afforded to the Apostles, on the 
day of Pentecost, a ready, abundant, and convenient 
resort, in the waters of which to immerse the three 
thousand converts on that day of Gospel triumphs. 
It may not be out of place in this connection to add, 
that there is no stream of water, or other natural 
provision, in which it was possible for baptism by 
immersion to have been administered, nearer than 
Jericho, or the Mediterranean ; and if that was the 
apostolic mode, it must have been performed in 
private cisterns, or in the public reservoirs, which, 
in their adaptation to such a purpose, if it were 
allowable by the authorities, were but little more 
suitable for such a use. 

The spot of greatest interest in Jerusalem, to the 
Christian, and which he would gladly identify, is 
Calvary, whence all his hopes of heaven had, if not 
their source, their seal and consummation. The 
impressions of sacredness, which would seem almost 
instinctively to attach to many localities, are meas- 
urably effaced by Mohammedan appropriation, or 



WALKS ABO U T ZION. 



253 



the gross superstitions engrafted by the ignorant 
and corrupt Christian sects. These remarks are 
specially applicable to the Church of the Holy Sepul- 
chre. We rejoice in the belief that it does not oc- 
cupy the true site of the crucifixion of our Saviour, 
or of the new tomb of Joseph, in which he was 
laid, and whence he arose from the dead. The site 
which this Church occupies is in a depression, a 
short distance north of Zion, or, more properly, on 
the side of Acra : this spot was selected as early as 
the third century, as the scene where those wonder- 
ful transactions occurred. The popular tradition 
assumes, that at the visit of the Empress Helena, the 
mother of Constantine, which was three hundred 
years subsequent to the event of the crucifixion, the 
true cross was there found. From the body of the 
Church we w r ere conducted dow r n by a passage of 
thirty-one steps, into the subterranean chapel of 
Helena. There we were gravely shown the very 
spot where, directed by a dream of the Empress, 
search being made therefor, three crosses were 
found imbedded under a shelving rock — the cross 
of our Savior, and of the two thieves — the inscrip- 
tions were gone, and which was the true one ? To 
ascertain this, a sick lady was brought, and laid 
upon them successively until the true one was 
reached, when she was instantly restored. 

This is one of "the miracles of the Church," the 



254 



WALKS ABOUT Z I O N . 



recovery of the Holy Cross being the fifth miracle 
of the sort in Mr. Newman's category, and the 
dupes of Rome's feigned infallibility are called upon 
to believe " that the greater part of the miracles of 
Revelation are as little evidence of Revelation, at 
this day, as the miracles of the Church are evidence 
for the Church," £ e., the miracles of the Bible have 
equal, but no more credibility than the miracles of 
the Church. The place is fruitful in all manner of 
wonders. TTe were shown the veritable hole in the 
rock in which the cross of Christ rested at the time 
of the crucifixion ; this is not shown to the vulgar 
multitude, but a temporary one, overlaying the 
true, the kissing of which is equally meritorious, as 
long as they are ignorant of the fraud. The place 
where the body was anointed after it was taken 
from the cross, is covered with a marble slab, over 
which are suspended rich lamps, belonging to the 
different sects, claiming concurrent rights in the 
spot. Neat at hand is shown the spot where the 
holy women stood at the time of the crucifixion. 
One chapel marks the place where the Centurian 
was converted, as he exclaimed, " Truly this was 
the Son of Cod/ 5 

The Sepulchre is the chief point of interest. This 
stands directly under the great dome of the Church 
— a kind of rounded chapel, rather oblong in form, 
some twenty-five feet in length. The entrance is 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



255 



by a door on the east, which, opens into an apart- 
ment six or eight feet square. From this you enter 
another apartment, seven or eight feet long by six 
feet wide and twenty feet high, and lighted from 
the top. It is lined with marble, with pilasters 
reaching up about ten feet, above which it is sur- 
rounded by columns. On the right hand side, as 
you enter, is the slab marking the spot where the 
body was laid. Here there are pictures, lamps, and 
artificial flowers. Into this place the pilgrim, if he 
has money to pay the priest, brings his rosaries, and 
all manner of things, to be blessed. We witnessed 
this profanation and mummery. Immediately east 
of the sepulchre is the Greek chapel, in the floor of 
which there is a stone which indicates the exact 
centre of the world, and the veritable spot from 
which the dust was taken, out of which Adam was 
made ! How this was ascertained, we did not stop 
to learn. But enough of this. 

The Church is under the supervision of Turkish 
officers. The presence of a strong police of Turks 
is not sufficient to prevent the occurrence of violent 
if not deadly feuds between the different Christian 
sects, especially of the Eomish and Greek Church, 
on the occurrence of the great festivals. Maundrell 
visited Jerusalem in April, 1696. The Turkish 
officers then exacted fourteen dollars as entrance 



256 WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 

money, from Frank or European pilgrims. On 
gaining admission, lie was confined three days in 
the Church, in witnessing the ceremonies of the 
Holy Week. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



WALKS ABOUT Z I ^" . 

Walls of the City at different periods of Jewish history — Demolished by Pompey 
—Rebuilt by Antipater — Third wall of Agrippa— Site of Golgotha — Circuit 
of walls— Upper Pool of Gihon — An ancient excavation — Indications of the 
line of " second wall" — Kedron Valley — Olivet— Ancient pathway : David's 
flight over it from Absalom— Gethsemane — Tombs in the Valley — Absalom 
and others — Not authentic — Height of eastern wall — Elevation of Temple 
area — Moslem judgment column — Evening scene from housetop, 

The area embraced within the walls of Jerusalem 
lias varied very materially at different periods. 
Mount Zion was doubtless the stronghold of the 
Jebusites, from which they were expelled by David, 
who subsequently fortified and called it the City of 
David. It appears to have been surrounded by 
walls at a very early period. Both from the Bible 
and Josephus, we may infer that the city extended 
somewhat into the intervening valley on the north 
of Zion, even in David's time. The lower city, 
mentioned by Josephus, may, however, have refer- 
ence to the southern slope of Zion. The Temple 
area on Mount Moriah, and not unlikely the whole 
of the ridge on the south of it, called Ophel, were 
probably enclosed in Solomon's walls. 

The walls were much strengthened by the ad- 



258 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOX, 



dition of towers. If they were not extended by 
Uzziah, II Chronicles, 26 : 9, Manasseh enlarged 
them so materially, on the west, as to make it a 
matter worthy of record by the inspired penman. 

On the return of a portion of the Jews from their 
seventy years' captivity in Babylon, Nehemiah re- 
built the walls evidently on their old foundations, 
Nehemiah, 3 : 1-32. The walls of the city were 
again demolished by Pompey, B. C. 63. Twenty 
years subsequently, they were rebuilt by Antipater, 
the father of Herod the Great. It was under the 
reign of Herod, that the city attained its greatest 
magnificence ; but not its largest extent ; as the third 
or outer wall on the western and northerly side of 
the city, was constructed by Herod Agrippa, the 
grandson of Herod the Great, some eight or ten 
years subsequent to the crucifixion. He was en- 
gaged in this very work when death arrested him 
at Cassarea, in the midst of his ambitious and im- 
pious career, and delivered the infant church from 
his persecuting hand. Acts, 12 : 20-23. 

To arrive at a satisfactory conclusion as to what 
was the true line of the second and third walls, as 
they are designated by Josephus, has been a theme 
of anxious research by some of the most distin- 
guished antiquarian writers of the present day. On 
this vexed topic, the true site of Calvary is measur- 
ably involved ; for if the walls of the city, at the 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



259 



period of the crucifixion, included the area now oc- 
cupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, it is 
fatal to its identity with the true Golgotha. Heb. 
13 : 12. 

Kortens, a Saxon traveller, who visited Jeru- 
salem A. D. 1741, was one of the first to call in 
question this place as the site of the true Calvary. 
He well said of it: u The holy places are brought 
together in this church as in a Earee show. It is 
the greatest spiritual toll-house, as it is the most 
godless place in the whole world." 

Dr. Robinson has more fully and ably than any 
other traveller shown that the ground occupied by 
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre must have been 
within the walls of the city at the period in ques- 
tion. His arguments were entirely satisfactory to 
our minds; other suggestions corroborating his 
views occurred to us, as we examined this interest- 
ing subject upon the spot. We have before us a 
beautiful daguerreotype view of Jerusalem, taken 
from the Mount of Olives, directly opposite to the 
Mosk of Omar, on which any one can see perfectly 
presented to the eye, the actual site of the Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre, in its very obvious depress- 
ion, and we do not see how any unbiassed and in- 
telligent individual could look on this topographic 
scene, presented before him in all its reality, and be- 
lieve that a wall for defence would ever have been 



260 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



run, by any sane man, along the valley north of 
Zion, so as to exclude the site of the church. The 
fact too that Agrippa, within eight years after the 
crucifixion, found it necessary to extend the walls 
on the north, so as to embrace an area nearly as 
large as the whole enclosure of the previous city, 
on the theory that the walls then in existence ex- 
cluded the Holy Sepulchre and adjacent territory, 
shows conclusively that the site occupied by the 
church must have been in the centre of a dense 
population at the period in question. 

The traveller in Jerusalem generally makes the 
circuit of the walls one of his first efforts in explo- 
ration. This, with various diversions of his route, 
will often be repeated in visiting localities of special 
interest in proximity to the city. 

We have full notes of our various itinerancies, 
which were taken down at the time. So much, 
however, has been written on Jerusalem, in recent 
years, by other travellers, that we do not deem it 
proper to trouble our readers with many observa- 
tions of our own in these relations. On our first 
excursion of this kind, we left the Jaffa, or Beth- 
lehem gate, which is situated just at the northern 
extremity of Mount Zion, and has, we think, with- 
out doubt, been the place of one of the portals of 
the city since the days of David. In close prox- 
imity to this gate is the traditional castle of David, — - 



WALKS ABO U T ZION. 



261 



the tower EBppicus, of Josephus. The lower part 
of the structure is of great antiquity If not of ear- 
lier origin, it may be referred to the period of 
Herod the Great. 

I estimated the depth of the Valley of Hinnora, 
immediately before the Jaffa gate, to be nearly 
seventy feet. The valley has a rapid rise as it ex- 
tends in a north-west direction to the distance of 
seven or eight hundred yards, when it terminates 
at the upper pool of Grihon, there situated at the 
head of the valley. This basin is without doubt 
that referred to in II Citron. 32 : 30, and Isa. 7 : 3, 
the waters of which Hezekiah probably connected 
by a small acqueduct with the pool that now bears 
his name, and which we find within the city walls, 
a short distance west of the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre. TVe did not deem it necessary to take 
measurements of the capacity of the basin, as this 
had been accurately done to our hand. It is three 
hundred and sixteen feet long, two hundred feet 
wide, and eighteen feet deep. Its sides are perpen- 
dicular, being laid up with hewn stone and cement. 
At one or more of the corners, there are steps lead- 
ing to the bottom of the reservoir. It has been 
supposed that it may have been anciently supplied 
with water from a spring in the vicinity, the waters 
of which were diverted at an early period of the 
regal history of the Jews, by a now hidden acque- 



WALKS ABOUT Z I N . 



262 



duct to the temple area, and tlience to the Pool of 
the Virgin, in the Kedron Yalley, and so to the 
Pool of Silo am. It now receives the drainage of 
the higher grounds adjacent. At the time we were 
there, it had but little water in it. It has been so 
little used for many centuries, it is perhaps measur- 
ably impaired, and does not retain the water. 
Maundrell says it was well stored with water when 
he was here, in Aiarch, A. D. 1696. There is at the 
present day a large Turkish burying-ground imme- 
diately north of the Pool. Tradition as well as his- 
tory points out this locality as the region of the 
Assyrian camp — II Kings, 18 : 17. Turning to 
the city wall, and following its course northward, 
we noticed numerous stones with bevelled edges, as 
well as the ends of granite columns worked into it. 
After passing the depression at the Damascus gate, 
we came to a wide and deep excavation in the lime- 
stone rock, which must have furnished a large quan- 
tity of material for walls or edifices. On the left 
side was the rocky elevation, in which is the tradi- 
tional grotto or cave of Jeremiah. On the right 
side, the city wall is built up from the top of the 
excavation, the side of which forms a part of the 
barrier. I paused here with great interest to survey 
the scene ; since, after a careful examination of the 
elevations and curvatures of the strata, on both sides 
of this remarkable and ancient excavation, and find- 



WALKS ABOUT Z I X . 



263 



ing them perfectly to correspond, I entertained no 
doubt, that I had before me a clearly identified 
point, on the true northern line of the " Second Watt" 
Subsequent examinations only confirmed my con- 
victions of the correctness of my first impressions 
on this interesting topic, and its very interesting 
localities. 

On the grounds upon the western and northern 
side of the city, there are many olive trees. 

In our slow progress it was nearly an hour from 
the time of our leaving the Jaffa gate, before we 
reached the north-eastern angle of the city wall, 
which we followed south to its only open portal, 
St. Stephen's Gate. The space between the eastern 
wall and the steep sides of the Kedron valley, is 
occupied as a Turkish burial ground. It varies in 
width between one and four hundred feet, or even 
more. At this point the valley is not far from one 
hundred feet deep. Here Olivet was all revealed be- 
fore us, as its precipitous sides and base overhang the 
valley, in its rapid descent. The character of the 
valley indicates clearly that this has always been 
the place for crossing it, to the Mount, It is quite 
safe to infer that the same pathway over Olivet to 
Bethany and Jericho, has been very nearly fol- 
lowed since the memorable day that David and his 
faithful adherents in grief and tears fled over it, 
toward the wilderness, through fear of that un- 



264 



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natural and rebellious son Absalom. " And David 
went up by the ascent of Olivet, and wept as lie 
went up, and had his liead covered, and lie went 
barefooted : and all the people that were with him 
covered every man his head, and they went up weep- 
ing as they went up." II Samuel, 15 : 30. More 
than a thousand years later in time's progress, Da- 
vid's Son and Lord in the days of his flesh, often 
emerged from the city, and with his chosen dis- 
ciples descended nearly or quite the same steep 
pathway, as they went forth over the Kedron and 
around the high side of Olivet to Bethany. On the 
level space at the foot of the Mount, which we see 
enclosed to indicate the spot, or in close proximity 
to it, was doubtless that garden to which ofttimes 
he repaired, and we looked down upon those very 
grounds of Grethsemane, where, for us, and our sins, 
in an agony of bitter grief, he sweat as it were great 
drops of blood, on that dark night of moral interest 
involving the world's destiny ; when treachery be- 
trayed him, and his friends all fled. 

We noticed, as we made our progress southward, 
along under the wall, that many of the stones in the 
foundation, adjoining the area of the temple, were 
very large. On a subsequent visit we measured some 
of them, that we found were twenty -two feet long 
and five feet in thickness. They are bevelled at the 
edges, and were evidently placed in their present 



4 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



265 



positions by Solomon or Herod. Here the ground 
falls off rapidly, and the wails are raised propor- 
tionally high, so that at the southern corner we 
estimated the height to be full seventy -five feet, as 
they appeared in our first examination. The walls 
must be very thick, as they sustain the weight of 
the earth on the temple area, which, at the south- 
ern end, is ascertained to have been raised sixty 
feet above the ground, on the south-eastern exterior 
corner of the wall. This was done to secure a per- 
fectly level space for the Temple grounds. The 
walls at this point, seen from the interior, as they 
now exist, rise sixteen feet above the interior area, 
making the whole height of the wall at this corner 
seventy-six feet. The valley below is one hundred 
and fifty feet deep ; making two hundred and 
twenty-six feet from the top of the wall to the bot- 
tom of the valley which it overhangs. High up in 
the wall, near this point, a long granite column pro- 
jects out, on which the Moslem believes that Mo- 
hammed is to appear and judge the world, to be as- 
sembled in the deep valley below. 

Immediately east from this point, down in the 
valley, are the reputed tombs of Jehoshaphat, Ab- 
salom, Jacob and Zechariah. They were excavated 
from the solid rock at the base of Olivet, and are 
remarkable monuments, belonging to a period quite 
as far back as the Christian era, and said to be much 

12 



266 



WALKS ABOUT ZION, 



in character like the monuments of Petra. At a 
subsequent visit we examined them minutely, and 
were greatly impressed with their magnitude and 
the labor involved in their excavation. The tomb 
of Absalom is the most imposing, being twenty-four 
feet square, and dome-topped with mason work ; its 
entire height being forty feet. 

The Bev. Mr. Nicholayson, I found, was disposed 
to regard this as an authentic monument of Ab- 
solom ; but, in view of the evidence against it, we 
think there is little probability that either it, or 
those named as adjacent, had an existence earlier 
than about the time of Herod the Great. The 
names by which they are designated were conferred 
palpably by the creative power of tradition in the 
middle ages, when imagination supplied so many 
of their facts. We pursued our explorations on this 
occasion, until we reached the Tyropoeon valley, 
when a shower arrested our further progress, and 
we returned through Zion gate, over that mount to 
our quarters in the city. 

At evening the flat roof of our house afforded an 
inviting position to look out on the bright constel- 
lations, which at the season so gorgeously bespangle 
the clear ether of the canopy above us. In other 
months we had, while in the tropics of the now to 
us far west, looked off upon Sirius, Orion and their 
attendant orbs, as they lustred the heavens in all 



WALKS ABOUT Z I X . 



267 



their beaming and brilliant glory ; but they never 
seemed half as near to us as now. Here, with the 
darkened outlines of Olivet before us, and in view 
of the mighty scene above, and our less than no- 
thingness in the contrast, we had impressively called 
to our remembrance the contemplations of David, 
recorded in the eighth Psalm, and penned, as we 
could not but think, at this very season, with the 
same bright constellations in his eye, and we in- 
stinctively echoed his exclamation : " When I con- 
sider the heavens the work of thy fingers ; the moon 
and the stars which thou hast ordained ; What is 
man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of 
man, that thou visitest him?" 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 

A ride in company with Rev. J. Nicolayson— Valley of Hinnom— Lower Pool 
of Gihonj--Solomon there annointed king — Ancient Tombs— The Aceldama 
—Well of En Rogel— Pool of Siloam— Fountain of the Virgin— Ride over 
Olivet to Bethany — Return over the summit to Church of the Ascension — 
Scopus— Return to city— Walk to Olivet— Tomb of the Virgin — Gethsemane 
— Church of the Ascension — View from Olivet. 

At an early period of our visit in Jerusalem, we 
enjoyed a most interesting ride in company with the 
Eev. John Nicolayson and his daughter. We left 
the city at the Jaffa gate, where we turned to the 
left, and descended the valley of Hinnom. We 
soon crossed the small acqueduct, which conveys 
the water from the pools of Solomon, beyond Beth- 
lehem, to the temple area — just below which, in the 
narrow valley, we came to the lower pool of Gihon. 
This pool received the surplus water from the upper 
pool, of the same name to which we have referred 
in a previous chapter. It may have been also sup- 
plied from the acqueduct of Solomon. It was form- 
ed simply by constructing a strong wall at each end 
of the space occupied across the rocky bottom of 
the narrow wady. Here Solomon was conducted 
by command of David, his father, to be anointed 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



269 



king. "And they blew a trumpet, and all the peo- 
ple said, God save king Solomon." The rending 
and joyous shouts of the people were heard by 
Adonijah and his confederates at their feast at the 
well of En Bogel, in the valley below, and quickly 
dissipated the wicked and ambitious plots they had 
assembled there to carry into execution. I Kings, 
1: 32-49. 

The sides of Zion here are without the walls, and 
are under culture. On our visits we saw the Arabs, 
as they were there fulfilling the predications of the 
prophet, "Zion shall be ploughed as a field." We 
soon had upon our left the "Hill of Evil Council," 
the traditional residence of the high priest Caiaphas. 
The precipitous sides of this high ridge upon the 
south of the valley, and bordering it, are pierced 
with numerous tombs of great antiquity. Some of 
them have Greek inscriptions, indicating that they 
were tombs of strangers. At a subsequent visit, 
we spent considerable time here in exploring this 
ancient necropolis. Some of the tombs have many 
compartments. They were at one period inhabited 
by anchorites, and as chapels for the Greek monks. 
They are now all empty and disused. There are 
many olive trees along the terraces. A little fur- 
ther down is the aceldema, or space on the high 
ridge, from very early times designated as the " Field 
of Blood." The charnel-house, into which the bodies 



270 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



of deceased persons were anciently precipitated, is 
a large and massive building oyer a deep excava- 
tion. It is now covered with a Saracenic stone 
arch. "VTe looked down into it from an opening in 
the western end. The bottom contains few if any 
remains of human beings. In surveying the in- 
terior. I discovered quite a large piece of heavy 
Eoman reticulated wall, on the south interior side 
of the receptacle. This fact, not observed by other 
travellers, so far as it has come to my knowledge, 
carries back the origin of this repository of the 
dead, without a peradventure, to the early periods 
of the Christian era. As we walked along the 
margin of these precipitous ledges, which over- 
hang this valley of Tophet, Jer. 7 : 31, we clearly 
saw how to reconcile the accounts respecting the 
tragic end of Judas Iscariot, which we find in the 
gospels, with Acts, 1 : 18. If the cord by which 
the despairing man suspended himself in the per- 
petration of this felo de $e was attached to the brittle 
limb of an olive tree, near the margin of these pre- 
cipitous ledges, when vitality ceased the pondrous 
weight of the body might well break the limb, and 
" falling headlong, lie burst asunder in the midst, 
and all his bowels gushed out.'' 

Pursuing our ride down the valley, at a short 
distance below its junction with the Kedron valley, 
we came to a large and deep well, now called the 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



271 



well of J ob or Nehemiah. It is clearly the En Eogel 
of Josh. 18 : 16. Turning from this, up in a north- 
ern direction, at the distance of eight hundred feet 
or more, we came to the Pool of Siloam. This pool 
is a spot of peculiar interest, as identified with the 
miraculous cure by our Saviour, of the man blind 
from his birth, as recorded by John, 9. We cannot 
better describe this fountain than by adopting the 
language of another, whose accurate description our 
own observation confirmed. " Here, within the 
Tyropoeon, is the Pool of Siloam, a small and deep 
reservoir, into which the water flows, from under 
the rocks, out of a smaller basin hewn in the solid 
rock a few feet farther up, to which is a descent by 
a few steps. This is wholly an artificial work ; and 
the water comes to it through a subterraneous chan- 
nel, from the fountain of Mary, higher up in the 
valley of Jehoshaphat. The hill or ridge Ophel, 
lying between the Tyropoeon and the valley of 
Jehoshaphat, ends here just over the Pool of Siloam, 
in a long and steep point of rock, forty or fifty feet 
high," While we stood under this high ledge, we 
thought of that refuge described by the prophet, as 
"the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." 

The principal part of the water which flows from 
the fountain of the Virgin, through the subterranean 
passage referred to, is conducted along under this 
high ledge, "in a small channel hewn in the rocky 



212 



WALES ABOUT ZION. 



bottom, and is led off to irrigate gardens of fig and 
other fruit trees and plants, lying in terraces quite 
down to the bottom of the valley of Jehoshaphat — 
a descent of forty or fifty feet. The reservoir is 
fifty -three feet long, eighteen feet broad, and nineteen 
feet deep.'' 1 The lower end is broken down consid- 
erably. There are columns built in the side-walls, 
and other indications that it was formerly roofed 
over. At the time of Dr. Eobinson's visit, there 
was no water in the reservoir. It was nearly or 
quite filled to its present capacity when we visited 
the place. Our readers will receive a very correct 
impression of the appearance of this fountain from 
its beautiful representation, copied from Bartlett's 
sketches expressly for the illustration of our pages. 

Leaving the fountain of Siloam, and passing 
around the high rocky termination of Ophal, we 
ascended the Kedron valley to the fountain of the 
Virgin, or Mary, as it is at present designated. 
This remarkable fountain is situated on the side of 
the deep valley, about six hundred feet south of the 
wall of the temple area ; and, as we have before in- 
timated, it has been conjectured by Dr. Eobinson 
that it has a connection with a fountain supposed to 
exist under the Mosk of Omar, on the site of Sol- 
omon's temple. Its waters, which have an irregular 
flow, are conducted to the fountain of Siloam by a 
subterranean channel of seventeen hundred and 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 



273 



fifty feet in length, excavated the entire distance 
through the solid rock. Drs. Robinson and Smith 
were the first to demonstrate this interesting fact, 
by performing the perilous exploit of creeping 
through from fountain to fountain. There are sev- 
eral considerations to induce the belief that this is 
the true Bethesda. John, 5:2. It is reached by a 
descent of two flights of steps, the first having six- 
teen, when a platform ten or twelve feet wide is 
reached ; the other of ten steps : the whole depth 
being twenty -five feet. The artificial basin is all of 
twelve feet long, four or five feet wide, and six to 
eight feet deep. 

In passing up the valley we noticed vast accu- 
mulations of ancient debris. Mr. Nicolayson re- 
marked that in the more than twenty-five years that 
he had lived in Jerusalem, he had never seen a drop 
of water in the Kedron. On reaching the tombs of 
Absalom and others, we crossed a bridge to the 
eastern side of the valley, and proceeding a short 
distance beyond them, we turned to the right, di- 
rectly upon the side of Olivet, and pursued the an- 
cient southern pathway on the left or north of the 
Mount of Offence to Bethany ; where we arrived at 
half-past three o'clock in the afternoon. Here we 
found a small village and the ruins of a large edi- 
fice, which tradition, without the least foundation, 
indicates as the house of Lazarus. A short distance 

12* 



274 



"WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 



north from this, in the valley, is a deep cave, ex- 
cavated in the rock, which is shown as the tomb of 
Lazarus. "VTe descended into it with torch lights 
by a passage of twenty-six steps. Eemounting our 
horses, we now rode by a more northerly track, di- 
rectly to the summit of the Mount of Olives, where 
we dismounted and visited the church of the As- 
cension. We had previously visited the Mount, and 
purpose to present to our readers, before we close our 
chapter, some of our impressions, derived on this in- 
teresting spot. On the ride we have been describ- 
ing, after leaving the Church, we proceeded north- 
erly, along the summit of the ridge, to the ancient 
Scopus. We then made a deflection westward and 
south to the city wall, around which we passed, and 
entered the Damascus Gate, just before the setting 
of the sun, the signal for its close. 

It is not necessary here to describe our sensations 
when our eyes first rested upon Jerusalem, and its 
surrounding hills. A sight for which so many mil- 
lions have fruitlessly sighed, might well rivet our 
attention and absorb our thoughts ! Arrived within 
the sacred precincts, ere we had much " walked 
about Zion," or considered her natural bulwarks of 
strength, we were attracted on the sides and to the 
summit of Olivet, that tripple-topped Mount, so 
often trodden by the Man of sorrow, as he went 
forth on errands of love and mercy. With this ob- 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOX. 



275 



ject before us, we early left our Hotel on the sides 
of Acra, and entering the Via Dolorosa, the way of 
grief, or street, which tradition, of quite modern 
origin, says, conducted from Pilate's house, or the 
Castle of Antonio, on the northern side of the 
Temple area, to the place of crucifixion ; now oc- 
cupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Pass- 
ing through St. Stephen's gate, we crossed the 
bridge over the dry bed of Kedron, and proceeded 
directly up the path that conducts to the central, or 
highest summit of Olivet. Immediately after cross- 
ing this bridge we had on our left the half-sunken 
chapel and reputed tomb of the Virgin Mary. 
Here, as usual in like cases, is a grotto excavated 
in the rock, and regarded in the traditionary le- 
gends as the tomb of the Virgin. We did not take 
the trouble of entering it; we noticed, however, 
that it has not grown much since Sir John Maun- 
deville was here, A. D. 1322. " Also in the myddle 
place," he says, " of the vale of Josaphathe, is the 
chirche of oure Lady ; and it is forty -three degrees 
under the earth unto the sepulcre of oure Lady. 
And our Lady was of Age when she dyed seventy- 
two Zeer. And beside the sepulcre of our Lady 
is an Awtier, (altar) where our Lord forzaf Seynt 
Petir all his synnes. And from thens toward the 
west, under an Awtier, is a welle that comethe out 
of the Ryvere of Paradys." The fountain of the 



276 



WALKS ABOUT ZIOX, 



virgin is doubtless here the reference. " — and 

nathales men seyn there commonly that the earth 
hathe so been cloven sythe the time that onr Lady 
was there buryed ; and zit men seyn there that it 
waxethe and growethe every day withouten doubte." 
We make this quotation as a curious illustration of 
the popular legends of that period, if not of this. 

Just on our right and south of this tomb of 
Mary is the spot enclosed to designate Grethsemane. 
Before we reached the top of the mount, we came 
to the Church of the Ascension, said by tradition to 
occupy the very spot where our Saviour " lifted up 
his hands and blessed his disciples ; and it came to 
pass, while he blessed them, that he was parted 
from them." Here in a small octagonal building, 
supported with marble columns, with elaborate capi- 
tals, the spaces between the columns having been 
filled in, we were shown an indentation, or foot-print, 
in the solid rock, which the monk in attendance 
seriously assured us, was made by our Saviour as 
he left the earth. This indentation is surrounded 
by a small curb. A hole in the floor, they say, 
marks the impression made by his staff. We need 
hardly say that our fund of credulity was not so 
capacious as to accept all this, especially as we be- 
lieve the spot, if it were of any great importance to 
know it, should be sought and found on the ridge 
considerably nearer to Bethany. Luke, 24 : 50. 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



211 



A few hundred feet beyond the church we came 
to the summit of Olivet. Here we found a Turkish 
burying-ground, surrounding a small wely, or saint's 
tomb. This point is twenty-five hundred and thir- 
ty-six feet above the Mediterranean. Here Jeru- 
salem was mostly hidden from our sight, under the 
swelling sides of the mountain. If the city be hid 
from one's view, the mountains round about Zion 
are all conspicuous in their nakedness. Standing 
on this elevated, point for observation, one may see 
a panorama of absorbing interest. 

In the south, at the distance of eight miles or 
more, you will see an isolated, cone-shaped hill, with 
which you will feel surprised that you are not bet- 
ter historically acquainted. It is known as the 
Frank mountain, the Herodium, where Herod built 
a citadel, and where his body found a sepulchre. 
But directing your eyes eastward, you may view 
the high table land, or mountains of Moab, Am- 
nion, and Grilead, on' the east side of the Jordan, 
with a small portion of the northerly part of the 
Dead Sea, and the adjacent valley of the Jordan. 

Between these distant and interesting objects and 
yourself, you may observe an extensive region of 
high, steep and naked hills, stretching along on the 
western sides of the plains of Jericho and the Dead 
Sea, presenting one wide field of barrenness. This 
desolate region is " the wilderness of Judea." These 



278 



WALKS ABOUT ZION. 



lofty peaks bear conclusive evidence that they liave 
ever borne the same sterile aspect ; not a solitary 
village occupies their summits or slopes ; no verdant 
forest or field clothes their sides ; no cool perennial 
stream refreshes those deep valleys. Would you 
go down from Jerusalem to Jericho, your path will 
lie directly over this wide waste ; nor will you find 
it any the more inviting on a near approach. You 
may, perchance, see the dark curtains of a rude 
Bedouin's tent stretched along on the hill-side, and 
here and there his flock of black goats or sheep 
gathering a scanty subsistence from the shrubs that 
occasionally appear. 

Nor has the region lost in the lapse of ages an- 
other peculiarity of its ancient character. If you 
attempt to traverse it unprotected, you will be quite 
sure to " fall among thieves." The top of Olivet 
and other localities around Jerusalem, you may visit 
with comparative safety ; but farther than Bethany, 
on the road to Jericho, you must not venture with- 
out the presence and protection of the sheikh of the 
Bedouins of the Jordan valley. Our object in the 
ensuing chapter will be to conduct our readers with 
us through this desolate region, and there in the 
wilderness of Judea to find the pulpit of John the 
Baptist. 



CHAPTER XXIX- 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 

The mission of the Baptist — Place selected for its prosecution — Open to Infidel 
objections — Progressive confirmation of Scripture — Journey to Jericho — 
Bedouin protectors — Visit to Gethsemane — Old olive trees — Arrival at 
Bethany — Scenery in view — Caves and tombs — Fountain of the Apostles — 
The Good Samaritan — Desolate region — Bedouin tent — Wilderness of Judea 
— Naked hills— Predictions of Isaiah— Pulpit of John— The way-side on this 
ancient high-way in the wilderness— Wady Kelt — The scene in view — 
Historic retrospect— Preaching of John — Adaptation of the scene — Prophecy 
fulfilled — Objections refuted. 

We learn from the sacred record that the 
mission of the Baptist was at least twofold — a her- 
ald, to announce the coming of Messiah, " Prepare 
ye the way of the Lord," — and a witness, " to bear 
witness of the light, that all men through him might 
believe." 

To the casual reader it may seem strange that a 
wilderness should have been selected by Infinite 
Wisdom for the accomplishment of such designs of 
mercy, and a sceptic might ask questions in regard 
to it, to which every lover of Revelation might not 
be prepared to give a satisfactory solution, and 
" vindicate the ways of God to man." 

It is, however, a cheering consideration, that new 
and striking confirmation of the inspired authority 



280 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



of the sacred Scriptures is in progress constantly 
developed. What seemed contradictory is found 
harmonious ; what obscure, full of light ; what un- 
reasonable and incredible to the infidel reader, 
founded on reasons the most satisfactory and con- 
clusive. Thus the investigations and discoveries in 
astronomy, geology and history, are all made trib- 
utary to the sacred text, nor are these fields ex- 
hausted. 

The Sheikhs of the region between Jerusalem 
and Jericho, demand from each person of a party, 
making an excursion to the Jordan and Dead Sea., 
from one to two hundred piastres, a sum equal to 
five or ten dollars, as an equivalent to the privilege 
of robbing you by the way, and for the sum stip- 
ulated, you may enjoy their company, and safe con- 
duct. You are expected, however, to furnish them, 
as a gratuity, the price of a sheep, for their eating 
on the tour. This compensation may appear to 
some of our readers rather an exorbitant sum, for 
the society it secures to the pilgrim. It is not, how- 
ever, as much as was formerly paid, when money k 
was worth more than at the present day. Maundrell 
visited the Jordan, on the 80th March, A. D. 1696. 
The price then exacted for a similar service, was 
twelve dollars. 

The morning was clear and delightful ; and 
agreeable to previous arrangements, Sheikh Musta- 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



281 



pha was at our hotel, with, a brother, as a part of 
our escort, at an early hour. Mustapha is a genuine 
Bedouin, thirty -five years old, tall and straight, 
having for an Arab an unusually fine and benev- 
olent countenance, though of rather sad expression. 

Pack-horses loaded, and everything arranged, at 
nine o'clock, we were all mounted, and ready 
for our journey. We passed round into the Via 
Dolorosa, and left the city at St. Stephen's gate. 
As we descended the Kedron valley, w r e noticed 
that the person in charge of the Garden of Greth- 
semane was in the grounds. "We therefore rode di- 
rectly to its gate, having before made several unsuc- 
cessful attempts to get into the enclosure, We now 
fortunately gained a ready admission. The area is 
about two hundred feet square, surrounded by a 
wall ten feet high. There are eight old olive trees 
in the ground, two or more of them the largest we 
had anywhere seen. We measured one of them, 
some three or four feet from the ground, and found 
it nineteen feet in circumference. Had the line 
been placed near the ground, it would have been 
quite twenty-four feet. To all appearance these 
trees are from five to eight hundred years old. 
Niebuhr was here, one hundred and twelve years 
before us. He speaks of these very trees, as having 
"been there in our Saviour's time." That this cer- 
tainly identifies the very spot where the Redeemer 



282 JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 

often resorted with his disciples, and where at his 
Father's hand he consented to drink the bitter cup, 
which was connected with the world's redemption, 
we cannot certainly say. This much seems to be 
certain, that from the nature of the grounds, it must 
evidently very nearly define that place of sacred 
interest to every pious heart. 

After leaving the garden, we pursued the old 
track of ages toward Bethany. Here, on the sides 
of Olivet, we were joined by quite a large addition 
to our Bedouin escort. 

As you pass along around the swelling sides of 
the southern slope of Olivet, you will be tempted to 
stop, even if you have done it again and again 
before, at the same point. We were doubtless 
treading over the very pathway where the compas- 
sionate Jesus " beheld the city and wept over it," 
saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least 
in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy 
peace !" Luke, 19 : 41. Jerusalem may here be 
seen from one of the most desirable points for ob- 
servation. 

Turning from the interesting field of vision before 
us, and proceeding on our journey, in half an hour 
we reached Bethany, now a poor village of twenty 
to thirty small houses. Although the site is de- 
pressed much below Olivet, it is on the whole pleas- 
antly situated. Here we had still a good view of 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



283 



the naked wilderness of Judea, which we were 
about to enter. The valley of the Jordan, a small 
space of the Dead Sea, and a wide extent of the 
mountains of Moab beyond, are full in view. This 
was the a town of Mary and her sister Martha : — 
Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Laz- 
arus." Thrice blessed and happy that family circle 
of all of whom this can be said, because all of them 
have chosen that good part that shall not be taken 
away from them ! 

The village of Bethany is situated on the western 
side of a very steep hill. On crossing a narrow 
gorge at its base, we ascended at once on a hill 
composed of strata of lime-stone rock, even with the 
surface, in which we particularly noticed both caves 
and tombs. The distance from the site of the village 
would well correspond to the account given of the 
place where Lazarus was interred, and over which 
Jesus wept with his afflicted sisters, as he announced 
those wondrous words "to challenge their confiding 
trust : " I am the resurrection and the life, he that 
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he 
live." Leaving these scenes of peculiar interest, 
we had before us a long, steep, and rocky descent, 
where, in many places, the ancient chariot track is 
seen cut through the ledge, and in about half an 
hour more we arrived at the bottom of a deep and 
narrow valley, at the entrance of which is an old 



284 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



ruined Kahn, and near at hand a fine fountain of 
water, called " the Fountain of the Apostles," be- 
cause tradition asserts that Jesus and his disciples 
often resorted thither. As this is the only natural 
spring of water in the whole route to Jericho, there 
can be little doubt that it is the spot indicated in 
" the parable of the good Samaritan," to which he 
is represented as having conveyed the object of his 
pity, who had fallen among thieves. Luke, 10 : 34. 

The region on which we had now entered would 
seem a fit home for the thief and the robber. Our 
ride on leaving the Kahn was for some distance 
along a dry water gorge, soon after which all ves- 
tiges of fertility disappeared, and such a scene of 
desolation followed as we have nowhere met. At 
a few minutes before noon we noticed a Bedouin 
tent on a distant mountain side. Occasionally we 
saw the Bedouin with his small flock of black goats, 
gathering a scanty subsistence from the naked 
ridges. 

At twelve o'clock, M., we stopped to lunch in a 
narrow valley, where we found a small Nubk-tree, 
affording us but a poor shade from the vertical and 
burning sun. In half an hour we remounted our 
horses to pursue our journey. We were now in 
the midst of the wilderness of Judea, " a dry and 
thirsty land, where no water is," a wilderness of 
naked and thirsty hills* Soon after leaving our 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



285 



resting-place, we met a long train of Abyssinian 
pilgrims returning from the Jordan. Some of them 
were tall and fine featured. At one o'clock, P. M., 
we were in the midst of wild gorges. Here I no- 
ticed some remarkable contortions in the strata of 
lime-stone rock, which might well arrest the atten- 
tion of the geologist. Much of our way now lay 
over " rough," rocky and "crooked paths/' and 
along the verge of deep ravines. Now and then, 
from some hill-top, we caught a view of the moun- 
tains of Moab, east of the Dead Sea. The whole 
distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is less than 
twenty miles. To accomplish this journey occupied 
us from seven to eight hours. We have now con- 
ducted our readers over more than half the distance, 
and fear we have conveyed a very inadequate im- 
pression of the region traversed, or of what remains 
unexplored. The title of our chapter indicates that 
we have in this excursion a special topic which we 
would desire here to illustrate — John in the Wilder- 
ness. We shall, therefore, somewhat change the 
character of our narrative in what remains. If the 
reader have the courage to ride with us, as we pur- 
sue our way along this old track, travelled by a 
hundred generations, it will often be with difficulty 
and danger your horse selects a place to rest his 
foot. At length we arrive over a rocky mountain 
ledge, where we must pause and survey the scene. 



286 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



On your left you look down tlie deep recesses of 
a yawning gulf — the Wady Kelt, and you find 
yourself on the side of a mountain twelve or fifteen 
hundred feet high, overhanging the valley of the 
Jordan. Xow take your Bible and read the fortieth 
chapter of Isaiah. You will have little doubt as to 
what scenery the inspired prophet had in his 
thoughts when he penned the graphic predictions 
in the first nine verses of the chapter. 

The region over which we have travelled, and 
amid which we still linger, was doubtless the 
prototype medium for his inspired annunciations. 
The whole valley is before you, and what scenes of 
wonder have been here enacted ? Instinctively 
you trace the high table land of Moab and Amnion, 
and inquire, TThere is the mountain Xebo, to which 
" Moses went up, from the plains of Moat) — to the 
top of Pisgah that is over against Jericho ?*' Jebel- 
es-Salt or Mount Gilead appears conspicuous above 
the rest ; but this would seem too far north to suit 
the narrative. "We must wait the researches of 
other travellers on these ranges, to select an eleva- 
tion that will comport with the sacred record. Our 
special aim is now to illustrate another subject. If 
we mistake not, you are treading near the Pulpit of 
the Baptist, but we must pause still longer to sur- 
vey the scene. 

On our right, at six or eight miles in the dis- 



JOHN IN THE W ILD EENESS . 



281 



tance, is seen the northerly portion of the Dead Sea, 
that salt, bitter and heavy water, which covers 
" the cities of the plain ;" a warning to wicked com- 
munities in every age, " set forth for an example, 
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." 

In the distance, apparently quite under the moun- 
tain ranges of Moab and Ammon, a narrow belt of 
foliage marks the devious path of the Jordan, and 
you look down over the place where the Tribes of 
Israel were convened, and at Joshua's command, 
the Priests bearing the ark, advanced to the edge 
of the then fall banks of the Jordan ; and it came to 
pass as their feet dipped in its turbid and rapid 
waters, they retired, and all the people passed over 
on dry ground. Joshua, 8 : 14. 

There too, at a later day, " Elijah took his mantle 
and wrapped it together and smote the waters, and 
they were divided hither and thither," so that he 
and Elisha passed over on dry ground, 

A little further on, no 'doubt considerably short 
of the mountain range, Elijah was caught up to 
heaven in a chariot of fire, and Elisha " took up 
the mantle of Elijah, that fell from him, and went 
back, and stood by the bank of Jordan," " and he 
took the mantle of Elijah and smote the waters, and 
said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah ? And when 
he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither 
and thither, and Elisha went over," 



288 JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 

In the plain at our feet, a mile north, of the foot 
of the mountain on which we stand, the beautiful 
" Fountain of Elisha" sends forth its healing streams, 
which give nearly all there is of fertility and cheer- 
fulness in the wide plain you behold : a fine gush- 
ing spring, sending up five or six hundred gallons 
of water per minute, sparkling from a bed twenty 
feet wide by thirty feet long, and hurried away in a 
stream several feet wide, and thence conducted in 
various directions over the surface of the ground 
for two miles in extent. "So the waters were 
healed unto this day, according to the saying of 
Elisha which he spake." II Kings, 2 : 19. 

Near to these western hills once stood Jericho of 
old, " the city of Palm trees, 5 ' around w^hich in silent 
and solemn procession the tribes marched for seven 
successive days. " And it came to pass, on the 
seventh day, that they rose early, about the dawn- 
ing of the day, and compassed the city after the 
same manner seven times, and the people shouted a 
great shout, and the walls fell down flat, so that the 
people went up into the city, every man straight 
before him, and they took the city," no vestige of 
which now remains. The dry trunk of one solitary 
"Palm Tree" stands in the plain. 

And to finish the detail, this plain at our feet 
embosoms the mouldering ruins of the palaces of 
" Herod the Great." The foundations of reticulated 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



280 



stone-work, peculiar to the Komans and the Koman 
period, there seen, perhaps composed a part of his 
palace, and may well define the site of the Jericho 
of his time. At the age of three-score and ten, that 
wretched tyrant, who a few months before, jealous 
of a rival, " sent forth and slew all the children 
that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts 
thereof," thinking thus to destroy him who was 
"born King of the Jews," here met the king of 
terrors, and closed his long career of infamy ; "his 
ruling passion strong in death," and its crowning 
act, designed for that event. Aware of the hatred 
which his life had incurred, he resolved that his 
death should be no theme of a nation's joy, but of 
universal grief ; to this end he assembled the chief 
men of the land in Jericho, and shut them up in 
the Hippodrome, giving strict orders to his sister 
and long associate in crime, Silome, to have them 
all put to death simultaneous with his own decease. 

But this " Wady Kelt;" down whose steep gorges 
we look with a timid gaze, is probably none other 
than the bed of the brook Cherith, where the 
prophet Elijah hid himself, and was miraculously 
fed by ravens. il And the word of the Lord came 
unto him, saying, Get thee hence and turn thee 
eastward, and hide thyself in the brook Cherith, 
that is before Jordan." 

A numerous and busy population occupied this 
13 



290 



JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 



plain, around Jericho, and the region east of the 
Jordan, at the period that John appeared, and with 
the courage and zeal of Elijah, announced himself 
the messenger sent to fulfil the predictions of an- 
cient prophecy : " The voice of him that crieth in 
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 
make straight in the desert a highway for our God." 

The intercourse between this then fertile region 
and Jerusalem, was no doubt frequent ; at the 
period of the stated feasts it was doubtless often 
thronged. Here then, on this great " highway" in 
the wilderness, over this deep gorge, memorable as 
the refuge of Elijah when he fled from the face of 
Ahab, and probably also of the spies of Joshua, with 
this landscape of unequalled interest in view, I be- 
hold the Baptist stand and proclaim to the passing 
throngs, " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand," for I am " the voice of him that crieth in 
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 
make straight in the desert a highway for our God." 
You see these devious paths, these deep valleys, 
these rugged and barren hills, this rough and all 
but impassable road, over which necessity compels 
you to wind your way, in your pursuits of life, or 
attendance on stated religions festivals. They but 
illustrate the moral difficulties that Messiah's mission 
of salvation is destined to meet ; yet under the 
mighty hand of Him who is shortly to appear, who 



JOHN IX THE WILDERNESS. 



291 



is from above, and above all, every valley of diffi- 
culty shall be filled, every mountain of opposition 
shall be made low, " and the crooked shall be made 
straight, and the rough places plain." Ponder veil 
the message yon now hear, and echo the intelligence 
as you go to your various destinations. "0 thou 
that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into 
the high mountain ; thou that tellest good tidings 
to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength ; lift it 
up, be not afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah, Be- 
hold your God !" "We here quote the marginal ren- 
dering of Isaiah, 40 : 9, which is more than sus- 
tained, we are happy to find, by Lowth and Barnes. 

From this singular teacher, in this strange place, 
the astonished traveller hears with, deepest interest, 
the tidings of the approaching advent of his long- 
expected Messiah. New visions of glory for his 
nation are awakened in his bosom. He now hopes 
that the time may have come when the long-cher- 
ished expectations of an earthly kingdom of their 
Messiah, are about to be realized ; when a national 
" deliverer is to come out of Zion," when he and 
his nation are to shake from them the hated Roman 
yoke, and they in turn shall ride, and rule, tri- 
umphant over the nations, and a kingdom shall be 
set up, whose " dominion shall be from sea to sea, 
and from the river to the ends of the earth." "With 
a beating heart he hastens on his journey, and as he 



292 JOHN IN THE WILDERNESS. 

goes, he rehearses the " good tidings" to those he 
meets, and tells of the wonderful man who, with 
the spirit of Elijah of old, has arrested his attention 
in the wilderness. 

In all directions the glad news is spread through 
the land, and the nation, aroused as by a voice from 
Heaven, hasten to hear for themselves the instruc- 
tions of the newly-risen prophet : " There went out 
unto him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the re- 
gion round about Jordan." We now ask the sceptic, 
or the doubting, what place 'in all Palestine so fit- 
ting for the Pulpit of John ? What point so per- 
fectly fulfilling ancient prophecy? What theatre 
so adapted to herald the message, quick, wide, and 
far through the land ? 



CHAPTER XXX. 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 

Early impressions respecting this plain — Its deep depression — Tropical climate 
— Irrigation — Always a barren desert— Josephns's description — Remarkable 
sand mounds — Fountain of Elisha — Site of ancient city— Dates the " wild 
honey" — Food of John the Baptist — Quarantina mountain — Crusaders' tower 
—Night encampment— Industry of the ladies— Bedouin women — Arab 
songs— Night annoyances — Source of safety. 

It was after three o'clock when we began our 
difficult descent of the steep and ledgy sides of the 
mountain, whence we have recently contemplated 
" John in the Wilderness." In little short of half 
an hour, we were on the plain at its base. The 
peculiarities of this remarkable region are, I appre- 
hend, not very generally understood. Our early 
thoughts and imagination paint a scene of verdure 
and fruitfolness not unlike those landscapes of 
beauty everywhere to be met in our own land. 
We literalize the fine poetry of Watts : 

" Sweet fields, beyond the swelling flood, 
Staud dressed in living green ; 
So to the Jews old Canaan stood, 
While Jordan rolled between." 

The survey of Lieut. Lynch has demonstrated 
the remarkable fact, that this Ghor of the Jordan, 



294 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 



which is here about ten miles wide, with its adjacent 
sea, is situated thirteen hundred feet below the 
Mediterranean, and nearly four thousand below the 
hills of Judea around Jerusalem. 

The breath of winter has never visited this wide 
and nearly desolate plain. Under these western 
hills a considerable border of the valley is now, and 
doubtless has ever been, artificially irrigated from 
the prolific fountain of Elisha, and other similar 
springs found a mile or more north of it. As far 
as this process has been extended, rich fertility has 
resulted ; but beyond this extent, with the exception 
of a narrow belt on the margin of the Jordan, its 
vallev is but little more inviting than the desert of 
Arabia; nor does it require "a prophet's ken" to 
know that such it must have ever been. It neces- 
sarily results from the peculiar situation of the val- 
ley, exposed in its deep depression to the influence 
of an almost tropical sun during the whole circuit 
of the year, and for seven or eight months of it 
without rain. We have here special reference to 
that part of the valley extending some twenty miles 
north from the Dead Sea. Josephus, describing 
Jericho, says : " The country as far as Jerusalem is 
desert and stony, but as far as Jordan and Lake 
Asphaltites, it lies lower indeed, though it be 
equally desert and barren." 

On reaching the foot of the mountain, our atten- 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 



295 



tion was arrested by a remarkable mound of earth, 
bearing a very striking resemblance to the tumulus 
mound, on which, a few weeks before we had stood, 
on the plains of Marathon, which covers and com- 
memorates the Athenians ; who there fell in their 
victorious battle with the Persians, — and to those 
other mounds, of a probably much earlier date, 
situated on the Phrygian shore near the mouth of 
the Dardanelles, known as the tombs of Achilles 
and Protesilaus, to which we have already referred. 

In the vicinity of this mound there are extensive 
foundations of buildings, some of them of reticulated 
stone work, which, beyond all doubt, refers them, 
as before remarked, to the Eoman period, and per- 
haps indicating the site of the very palace, from 
which Herod was summoned to his final account. 

Turning from these, we proceeded directly north, 
crossing the deep gorge of the Wady Kelt, soon 
after which, we again noticed other of those tum- 
ulus-like-sand mounds, 'which led us to conclude 
that they are all natural formations. If they are 
artificial, they must be referred to a period anterior 
to the occupation of the tribes of Israel. 

Pursuing our way north, in half an hour we 
reached the gushing fountain of Elisha, 2 Kings, 2 : 
19-22. As the city here referred to was located 
near, and dependent on the fountain, it woulb seem 
to be a legitimate inference that the noxious quality 



296 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 



of its waters may have been a recent and providen- 
tial disturbance of its subterranean sources. 

We were now, probably, in the immediate vicin- 
ity of Jericho of old, " the City of Palm Trees." 
Josephus says : " Notwithstanding which, there is a 
fountain by Jericho that runs very plentifully, and 
is very fit for watering the ground. It arises near 
the old city, which Joshua the son of Nane, the 
general of the Hebrews took, the first of all the 
cities of the land of Canaan, by right of war.'' He 
then goes on to show how the waters were healed 
by Elisha, and adds : "Accordingly it waters a larger 
space of ground than any other waters do, and passes 
along a plain of seventy furlongs long, and twenty 
broad, (rather exaggerated,) wherein it affords nour- 
ishment to those most excellent gardens that are 
thick set with trees. There are in it many sorts of 
palm-trees, that are watered by it, different from 
each other in taste and name : the better sort of 
them, when they are pressed, yield an excellent 
kind of honey, not much inferior in sweetness to 
other kinds of honey.'' Doubtless the date-bearing 
palm : though it may provoke a smile of incredulity, 
that we who have so recently attempted to find the 
pulpit of the Baptist in the wilderness, have now 
found his meat on the plain. ^\Ve will here inquire 
if we have not indicated to us, with no doubtful 
significance, the "wild honey" on which John fed 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 



297 



in the wilderness. The arguments on which this 
opinion is founded would make too extensive a dis- 
cussion for this place. The Biblical scholar need 
not be told that the Hebrew word debash, rendered 
" honey" by our translators, in our Bibles, has prob- 
ably much more frequent reference to the honey of 
dates or dates themselves, than to the honey of bees. 
After examining the subject with the most reliable 
authorities, to my mind, the conclusion is irrefrag- 
able, that the " wild honey" spoken of, Matt. 8 : 3, 4, 
was no other than new gathered dates, a nutritious 
and wholesome article of food, requiring no culinary 
art. With this explanation, there was nothing in 
the diet of the Baptist, at which the infidel need 
carp or the honest inquirer stumble. This topic is 
made the subject of a distinct chapter at the close 
of our volume. 

The "Quarantina Mountain," one of the highest 
of the barren peaks of the wilderness, which over- 
hangs the valley, was now little more than a mile 
distant from us in the north-west. This desolate 
place is pointed out by tradition as the spot where 
our Saviour passed his forty days of fasting and 
temptation. Matt. 4 : 1-12. It is now surmounted 
by a very small chapel, and high up in the face of 
the mountain are many openings or cells, in which, 
it is said, numerous anchorites formerly dwelt. 

After lingering around this interesting place, the 
13* 



298 JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN. 

prolific waters of which, reminded me of our own 
Lebanon Springs, we turned to the south-east, pass- 
ing along for some distance on the margin of the 
little stream that flows away from the fountain. As 
we proceeded, we noticed evidences of foundations, 
and numerous pieces of pottery, and other debris, 
scattered along for a considerable distance, indicat- 
ing that a very busy multitude once occupied the 
ground over which we trod. 

The waters are soon diverted in various channels 
for irrigation. The patches of grain were now 
(January 18) considerably advanced, and every- 
thing wore the impression of a tropical climate. 
Even the fig-trees, which here, as elsewhere in Pales- 
tine, grow very large, retained their leaves, and 
were green with foliage ; a circumstance quite re- 
markable. 

Our muleteers and servants, with our baggage, 
had proceeded directly to the vicinity of the old 
Crusaders' Tower, the lonely and hoary sides of 
which are the prominent object to be seen on the 
plain. This is the usual camping-ground, and here 
our tents were pitched for the night. The scene 
was novel and full of interest to us, for, up to this 
time in the progress of our journey, from its being 
the usual rainy season, we had contrived to sleep 
within the walls of some sort of a structure of stone, 
mortar and mud, called a house ; but the wretched 



JERICHO AND ITS PL A IX. 



299 



Bedouin village at hand could hardly make preten- 
sions to compare even with the mud hovels of Egypt. 

In close proximity to our tents, our horses and 
donkeys were carefully secured, as far as within our 
power, from the hand of the midnight robber, and 
our baggage placed within, and tied to our tent 
poles — a precaution which we found it necessary 
afterwards to adopt at other encampments. 

We reached our camp-ground ere the sun was 
set. The fatigues of eight or nine hours on our 
horses, gave us, as usual, a keen relish for our 
dinner, and the promise of a sound night's sleep in 
our tents. The ladies of our party, with their 
usual zeal, made diligent search for flowers for their 
collections ; nor did they forget, even in this strange 
place, to write up their journals for the day. 

As the darkness of night drew on, a group of 
haggard and wretched-looking women, from the 
village, came to our encampment upon the usual 
errand of Bakhshish, (money,) singing in doleful and 
discordant notes some of their Arab songs. Our 
muleteers and Bedouin guards, too, as they lay 
around on the ground, or sat by a smoking fire, 
displayed their passion for music, such as it was ; 
and we had the promise that their talent would be 
put in requisition for our amusement or annoyance. 

Thus circumstanced, amid the stamping of horses, 
and the talking and music of our Arabs, we laid us 



300 



JERICHO AND ITS PLAIN, 



down in our tents and slept, first commending our- 
selves to His mercy and protection " who only 
maketh us to dwell in safety" in any place. 

Ere the night was far advanced, our slumbers 
were disturbed : the whole plain seemed vocal with 
the yelping of unnumbered jackals, to which the 
dogs of the village responded in still louder notes. 
We slept, however, without anxiety or alarm, and 
rose at an early hour the following morning, to 
prepare for our day's excursion to the Jordan and 
the Dead Sea. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 

The Castle of Jericho: view from its top— Departure for the Jordan— Cultivated 
fields— Ruined Sugar Houses— Sugar Cane not now cultivated: originally 
introduced by the Saracens — Michaud — Desolate appearance of the Plain — 
View of the Great Hermon — Grotesque appearance of our cavalcade — Negro 
Slaves: their price: condition— Comparison of Oriental and American 
slavery— Sand mounds— Calcined Sulphur — A Gazelle— Valley of the Jor- 
dan — Arrival on its banks. 

The Castle of Jericho, as it is designated, is an 
old and massive structure, some forty feet square, 
by about the same height. It may have stood there 
a thousand years ; owing its origin to the Saracens 
on their subjugation of Palestine. If not, it Was 
the work of the early Crusaders, for it was spoken 
of more than six hundred years ago by writers of 
that day as an old tower. Pilgrims of the present 
day believe it to have been the house of Zaccheus — a 
tradition that dates back three or four hundred 
years. As the top of it affords a good view of the 
Plain, we repaired to it for that object directly after 
our early breakfast. The view from it, however, 
by no means equals that from our " Pulpit of 
John." 

Eeturning from the Castle, at nine o'clock, A. M., 



302 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



we were on our horses ready for our excursion to 
the Jordax and Dead Sea. The day (January 
19) gave promise of being very warm, and at mid- 
day proved fully summer heat. Our course was in 
an East S. E. direction, and for a short distance over 
fields which bore evidence of having been recently 
under cultivation. We noticed what had been ob- 
served by Dr. Eobinson at a later season, that the 
roots of the old corn stalks were sending out fresh 
shoots for a second year's crop ! 

Doubtless a large part of this upper terrace of 
the Ghor might be brought under cultivation by a 
process of irrigation, from the waters of the foun- 
tains of Elisha and others north of it. That ener- 
getic race, the Saracens, appear to have introduced 
the culture of Sugar here to a considerable extent. 
Their ruined sugar-houses, are seen under the hills 
north of the Quarantina mountain. The culture of 
the cane has long been discontinued here. It is still 
grown to a small extent at Sidon, and the vicinity 
of Beirut, where we frequently saw the fresh-cut 
cane exposed for sale to the Arabs, who eat it. for 
its saccharine juice, in much the same way that we 
have seen the negroes eat it in the AT est Indies. 
No attempt is now made, as we are aware, to pro- 
duce sugar in Syria or Palestine. It is an interest- 
ing fact that the sugar cane had been extensively 
introduced into Palestine and Syria by the Saracens, 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



303 



long before it was known to the dwellers in Europe. 
It was not until the period of the first Crusade that 
Europeans knew practically anything respecting the 
sugar cane. After the first Crusaders had taken 
Antioch, A. D. 1099, and subjugated Syria, they 
commenced their march toward Jerusalem, the 
grand aim of their vast enterprise. Michaud relates 
that they commenced this march at the end of the 
month of May. " The inhabitants of Phoenicia," he 
says, "had finished their harvest. The Christians 
found provisions everywhere, and admired on their 
passage the rich productions of Asia. In the plains, 
and on the hills, were oranges, pomegranates, and 
many other sorts of trees unknown in the West. 
Among these new productions one plant, the juice 
of which was sweeter than honey, above all at- 
tracted the attention of the pilgrims ; this plant was 
the sugar cane. This plant, now become of such 
importance in commerce, had been till this time un- 
known in Europe," 

The whole plain, with the exception already 
made, now presents a scene of desolation. All that 
it has of cheerfulness is seen in this winter season, 
for now, the few shrubs which, not unlike those on 
the Desert of Arabia, are scattered about, are in full 
bloom, and we gathered specimens of them for our 
collections. At half-past nine o'clock we had an 
unobstructed view up the Grhor, and the snowy 



304 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



sides and top of the Great Herman, Deut 3 : 9-25, 
" that goodly mountain, and Lebanon" (white) which 
Moses so much desired to visit, noAV one hundred 
and twenty miles in the north from us, burst upon 
our view, in all the glory of the Alpine monarch, 
Mont Blanc. Our cavalcade of horses, and retinue 
of footmen made quite a formidable display, to say 
nothing of the grotesque appearance of the scene. 
When in the East it was a subject of joke, and the 
question was often asked, "What kind of a sensa- 
tion should we produce in Broadway ?" Our two 
Bedouin sheikhs, Mustafa and Mohammed, were, of 
course, in their best costume and full armor, their 
long lances cutting the air, while mounted on swift 
Arabian horses, they were occasionally exhibiting 
to us evolutions of warfare. It was truly a matter 
of surprise to see them riding at the top of their 
speed for an onset, and almost in an instant of time 
turned, and going as fast in another direction. To 
them we had ten footmen, with long guns so care- 
lessly swung over their shoulders, that we regarded 
their position the greatest danger we had to encoun- 
ter, — two of these were Nubian Negroes, slaves of 
the Sheikh. 

In answer to my inquiries, I was informed that 
the price paid for a healthy man was a sum equal 
to about forty dollars. If in them we had an illus- 
tration of primitive slavery, so far as relative de- 



HIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



305 



gradation is taken into the account, it bears no paral- 
lel to the institution as it exists in our own country. 
There the master and slave eat from the same dish, 
and alike lie down on the hard ground for repose. 
Apart from the sundering of his rude ties of home, 
by the ruthless hand of the slave-catcher, the con- 
dition of the African has even there been meliora- 
ted by the transition from his native jungle. We 
noticed, while in the East, that the skin of the 
Ethiopian does not appear to be any special ground 
for disfavor. An incident occurred while on our 
way to the J ordan, which I noticed with interest, 
as shedding some light on this subject. For some 
cause, one of our Arab footmen had a contention 
with one of the Nubians. The latter very resolutely 
vindicated his cause. Even the interference of the 
old sheikh was alike disregarded by both. While 
contemplating the scene, and instituting its contrasts 
with Slavery as we had seen it in the West Indies, 
in South Carolina and other slave districts — fraught 
with evil to master and slave, as we deem the system 
to be, it was our conviction at the time, that we 
would greatly prefer for ourselves, and our children, 
the condition of slavery in this land, with all its haz- 
ards arid contingencies for the future, than that of 
the Sheikh or his slave with their prospects. We 
believe that in the worst districts of slaveiy in this 
country, they are more elevated in the scale of being, 



306 



RIDE TO THE 



JORDAN, 



and enjoy vastly more comforts than the Arab. 
Nor can we leave out of the account that here it has 
been the occasion of bringing millions of the sons 
and daughters of Africa in some measure under the 
light, and multitudes of them to experience the reno- 
vating power of the Gospel. 

The very presence of the system has been over- 
ruled by a wonder-working Providence to awaken 
in many hearts a deeper sympathy for Africa, and 
set on foot schemes of benevolent effort in her be- 
half, which are destined to send back and over that 
dark continent, that recuperative influence — pure 
Christianity, which can alone disenthral it. In view 
of which, we should be slow to arraign the wisdom 
of that Providence which permitted the introduction 
of the system, destined soon to fade away before 
the law of Love — unless it shall gather up strength 
for further endurance for a time, under the excite- 
ments of angry denunciation that are occasionally 
too rife in our country, 

I hope I may be pardoned this long episode, and 
allowed to return to my narrative. At considerable 
distance from the Jordan, we dropped down into a 
lower and sandy plain, in which are numerous per- 
pendicular sand mounds or tables, ten to fifteen feet 
in height, from which our Arabs procured for us 
specimens of calcined sulphur, apparently very 
pure. At a later hour, and some miles nearer to 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



307 



the Dead Sea, we gathered flowers so strongly im- 
pregnated with sulphur, we could not for a time 
retain them in our collections. During our whole 
ride, we saw but a single animal — a Gazelle, whose 
spectre-like form flew from us on the wings of 
lightning, and was quickly lost from our view and 
pursuit. 

A ride of two hours from Jericho brought us to 
the margin of a third or lower valley. Here the 
Jordan flows in a depressed plain, varying from a 
few hundred feet to a quarter of a mile in width. 
This is more or less covered with high shrubs, 
canebrake and several varieties of trees, of moder- 
ate size. It appears from Josephus that the Palm 
was anciently found here. As that tree flourishes 
best in the vicinity of water, the margin of the 
river would be congenial to the habits of the 
tribe, and to them, and those planted along the 
water-courses of the prolific fountains at and near 
Jericho, it has been with great propriety supposed 
the psalmist has reference in his description of the 
godly man, Ps. 1 : 3, " he shall be like a tree plant- 
ed by the rivers of water." See^ also, Ps. 92 : 12. 
Arrived at the Jordan Ave experienced a surprise, 
common probably to travellers, at finding a turbid 
stream but sixty-five to seventy feet wide, flowing 
with a rapid current between banks twelve to twenty 
feet high on the western side, and considerably 



308 



RIDE TO THE JORDAN. 



lower on the eastern shore. That no change in the 
character of the river has occurred in the process of 
ages seems very obvious. Maundrell was here on 
the thirtieth of March, A. D. 1696. "The river,' 7 
he says, " was six feet below its banks, and twenty 
yards wide. The water was very turbid, and the 
current too rapid to be swam against." From the 
narrative of Lt. Lynch, it would appear that in its 
course from Tiberias, it varies from seventy feet to 
seventy yards in width, being in some places broad 
and very shallow. Here, at eleven o'clock, A. M., 
we dismounted on the margin of the river, associated 
with our earliest impressions of Bible story, where 
miraculous interposition stayed its rapid torrent, 
to afford a safe and dry passage to God's chosen 
tribes of old, Josh. 3 : 16, 17 : " Then Judah was his 
sanctuary, and Israel his dominion. The sea saw 
it and fled : Jordan was driven back. What ailed 
thee, thou sea, that thou fleddest ? Thou Jordan, 
that thou wast driven back ?" Ps. 94. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



THE KIVEE JORDAN". 

Traditional places where John baptized — Custom of modern pilgrims — Perils 
attending — A staff from the banks of Jordan— Crossing-place of the tribes 
of old — River never overflows — Dr. Robinson's view — Expirations of Lt. 
Lynch — Facts ascertained — Rapid descent — Obvious inference. 

In the account of our 11 Eide to the Jordan,' 7 we 
have referred to the fact, that in this southern por- 
tion of its valley, embracing less than one-half the 
distance from the Dead Sea to Tiberias, there may 
properly be said to be three terraces : the narrow 
plain into which the river flows, covered more or 
less with trees, shrubs and vegetation ; then a wider, 
higher, and sandy level, destitute of vegetation, and 
filled with conical sand- mounds; beyond this, and 
still more elevated, that extended and barren region, 
a portion of which around Jericho, of greater or less 
extent, in different ages, has been brought under 
cultivation by irrigation. We have also inferred 
from its deep depression, and consequent tropical 
climate, that this has ever been the character of the 
Ghor. Another obvious inference, on looking at 
the scene, seems to be that the region of the Jordan 



310 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



never was occupied by villages. To this feature 
we may hereafter have occasion to refer. 

At the commencement of our pilgrimage in Pal- 
estine, I had carefully collated the various portions 
of Scripture having reference to particular incidents 
and localities, to be read on the ground of occur- 
rence, and here as usual, we read those portions re- 
lating to the Jordan, for we had found, however 
invaluable our guide-books, and especially the 
" Biblical Kesearches " of our friends and country- 
men, yet the Bible in Palestine, is emphatically the 
best companion for the traveller. 

The sects of Christian pilgrims are not perfectly 
agreed as to the exact traditional spot where our 
Saviour was baptized by John. The distance be- 
tween the two fixed upon is but short, and to one 
or the other they repair in great numbers at the 
annual recurrence of Holy Week. Here they enter 
the stream, and submerge their bodies three times 
below the surface, repeating at each time the name 
of the Holy Trinity, or that of one of the sacred 
persons. From the rapidity of the current of the 
river, this is always attended with, peril, and some 
one or more are generally drowned every year. 
This bathing in the sacred stream performed, they 
secure from it a small quantity of the water, and a 
staff from the trees along its banks. 

The staff and the water, in like manner we pro- 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



311 



cured, and conveyed safely over other continents to 
our own home,— mementos of our interesting visit 
there. Whether we had reached the exact point 
where the Tribes passed over in long processions 
into the land of their promised and desired rest, was 
veiled from us. No stones of memorial now stand 
in the midst of Jordan to mark the spot "where the 
feet of the Priests which bare the ark of the cove- 
nant stood,' 7 or if they do, they are hid beneath the 
rushing torrent from mortal gaze. 

" For the priests which bare the ark stood in the 
midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that 
the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the peo- 
ple, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua ; 
and the people hasted and passed over. And it 
came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of 
the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the 
midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet 
were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of 
Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over 
all its banks, as they did before." Joshua, 4 : 9, 11. 

In this miraculous passage of the Israelites over 
Jordan, it was not so much the width of the stream, 
as its rapidity which gave to this stay of its waters 
its most striking impression. Nor was it a mere 
local effect, for " the waters which came down from 
above stood and rose up upon an heap, very far 
from the city of Adan, that is beside Zaretan," 



312 



THE RIYER JORDAN. 



which, place appears to have been nigh to BethShen, 
a distance of thirty -five to forty miles. 

Here a question of considerable interest to the 
Biblical student and Sabbath school teacher arises : 
Had the Jordan anciently an annual overflovj ? That 
no such event now occurs is quite certain. Neither 
drift-wood nor deposit are there* The climate in 
the valley is probably warmer than much of North- 
ern Egypt ; and did the Jordan, to any extent, like 
the Nile, overflow its banks, a like prolific result 
would follow. To our early habits of thought, 
founded on Josh. 3: 15, " For Jordan overfloweth 
all his banks all the time of harvest," and the pas- 
sage before quoted, it may appear a bold proposition 
to call in question the correctness of the rendering. 
The harvest here in the valley occurs in April — 
nearly two months subsequent to the rainy season — 
and the flood in the Jordan at this season is the re- 
sult of the melting snows on Anti-Lebanon. The 
difficulty of reconciling the text with the facts as 
they are found, could not fail to attract the attention 
of Dr. Eobinson, on his brief visit here thirteen 
years before ; and with his usual acuteness and ac- 
curacy, he suggests several ways of reconciling the 
apparent discrepancy. He remarks : 

" It is indeed generally assumed that the Jordan 
of old, somewhat like the Nile, regularly overflowed 
its banks in the spring, covering with its waters the 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



313 



whole of the lower valley, and perhaps sometimes 
large tracts of the broad Ghor itself. It seems, 
however, to be generally admitted that no such ex- 
tensive inundation takes place at the present day, 
and it is therefore supposed that some change must 
have taken place, either because the channel has 
been worn deeper than formerly, or because the 
waters have been diminished or diverted. The sole 
accounts we have of the annual increase of its 
waters are found in the earlier Scripture history of 
the Israelites, where, according to the English ver- 
sion, Jordan is said to " overflow its banks'' in the 
first month, or all the time of harvest ; but the orig- 
inal Hebrew expresses in these passages nothing 
more than that the Jordan was full or filled up to 
all its banks, meaning the banks of its channel, or 
was brim full ; the same sense is given by the Sep- 
tuagint and Vulgate." Bib. R, vol. 2, p. 261. 

At the period of Dr. E.'s visit to the Jordan, no 
traveller in modern times had traversed the whole 
extent of the Ghor, or attempted to navigate its 
river ; and many interesting facts since ascertained 
were not accurately known. 

In April, 1848, Lt. Lynch of the American Navy, 
with his exploring party, launched their boats on 
Tiberias, from which they entered the Jordan and 
descended it to the Dead Sea, which they subse- 
quently explored. From the published narrative 

14 



314 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



many interesting facts may be gathered : 1st, the 
distance from Tiberias to the Dead Sea, in a direct 
line is sixty miles ; 2d, from the sinuous course of 
the Jordan, it was found by Lt. Lynch to be more 
than two hundred miles long, varying in width 
from seventy feet to seventy yards ; 3d, another very 
important and interesting fact gathered from the nar- 
rative is, that all these windings of the river are con- 
fined within a longitude of four miles ! ! At the end 
of one of the eight days of his voyage down the river 
he says, "the course of the river formed a never- 
ending series of serpentine curves," and again, " the 
course of the river varied to-day from 1ST. E. by N. 
and N. N. "W. to South ; the true course from the 
place of departure this morning to our present camp, 
was S. S. W." 4th. Another fact which we gather, 
and to which we ask special attention is, that the 
current of the river amid all these contortions will 
average from four to five miles the hour. Lt. Lynch 
speaks of "plunging down twenty-seven threaten- 
ing rapids, besides a great many lesser." These 
facts will not appear strange, when we take into 
the account the very great descent which the river 
makes in its passage from Tiberias to the Dead Sea. 
In our article on " Jericho and its Plain," we have 
referred to the remarkable fact, that the Dead Sea 
is ascertained to be depressed about thirteen hun- 
dred feet below the Mediterranean." 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



315 



It has been suggested that there may be some ex- 
aggeration in the statements of Lt. Lynch. I have, 
however, particularly interrogated a very intelligent 
and entirely reliable Armenian, a native of Bethle- 
hem, who accompanied Lt. Lynch in his "Expe- 
dition down the Jordan," and who fully corrobo- 
rates his statements in regard to its sinuous course 
and rapid descent. 

Lt. Lynch has not informed us of the relative 
height of Tiberias, but from my own observations 
when there, and judging also from the plain of Es- 
draelon which reaches down nearly to the Jordan, 
and is at a moderate elevation only above the Medi- 
terranean, I think it safe to infer that Tiberias is not 
below that sea.* We have here presented the re- 
markable fact of a descent of twelve to thirteen 
hundred feet in the short distance of sixty miles, in 
fact the principal part of it occurs in the last forty 
miles. It is a well-ascertained fact in physical 
science, that a descent of three inches per mile, in a 
smooth straight channel, gives a velocity of about 
three miles an hour. The Ganges, at eighteen hun- 
dred miles from its mouth, is only eight hundred 
feet above the level of the sea. 

In view of these facts, a very important sugges- 
tion occurs in regard to the question whether the Jor- 

* Since the above was written, I have learned from German 
authority that Tiberias is eighty-four feet below the Mediterranean. 



316 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



dan did ever, to any extent, overflow its banks. As- 
suming an annual overflow, the main current at 
such, times would pass off in a direct line, and with, 
an accelerated current, equal probably to nine or 
twelve miles the hour. Now, in view of the' soil in 
this lower plain, can it be doubted, if. such were the 
fact, that the river would very quickly, if not in the 
very first season, make a direct channel ? Yet I do 
not find a single instance named in the narrative of 
Lt. Lynch, of the least indication of such an occur- 
rence in all the abrupt and remarkable windings of 
the river in its whole extent. To me it does appear, 
as at present viewed, to settle conclusively that the 
Jordan never did, to any extent, overflow its banks, 
and that a more correct rendering of the text would 
have been, as suggested by Dr. Eobinson, " full 
banks." 

Standing over this interesting stream, our cu- 
riosity would have been gratified had some land- 
marks designated the places where the Tribes, or 
Elijah and Elisha, at a later day, crossed ; or that 
spot of still deeper interest to the Christian, where 
the Baptist carried forward his reforming and pre- 
paratory mission. It was sufficient to know that 
this immediate vicinity was the theatre of those 
events. But a greater than Joshua, Elijah or John 
h.as been here, the true Joshua of the true Israel. 
" He will save" his chosen tribes in every age. say- 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 317 

ing to them, " when thou passest through the waters 
I will be with thee ; and through the rivers they 
shall not overflow thee." — Isaiah, 43 : 2. Of him 
the Baptist testified, " of his fulness have all we re- 
ceived, and grace for grace. For the Law was 
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus 
Christ." 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



JOHN AT THE JOEDAN. 

Evils of sectarian strife deplored— Occasion of the subject engaging attention — 
Considered on Scripture localities— John's aim in repairing to the Jordan — 
Oriental Manners and Customs indicate pouring of water as the original 
mode of Baptism — Places designated where John preached and baptized — 
The Wilderness — The River Jordan — Bethabara — Enon — Period of John's 
labors — Peculiarity of his character — Remarkable character of the Jordan 
Valley — No villages on its banks — Stream turbid, rapid and dangerous — 
Fountain of Elisha — Bethabara — Enon — Place of springs of water — A rest- 
ing-place for travellers — Its probable locality. 

The title of our chapter may. seem to indicate to 
the reader the apprehension that we are about to 
enter upon a field more legitimately in the keeping 
of the theologian and the polemic. We trust, how- 
ever, it is unnecessary, on various considerations, 
for us to disclaim such a purpose in regard to the 
suggestions we are about to make. 

Sectarian strife we desire ever to avoid. If there 
be those favored spots on earth's surface, where its 
fountains can be effectually dried up, they are reach- 
ed on those distant shores where Paganism, Moham- 
medanism, or the forms of corrupted Christianity, 
perhaps equally fatal, prevail. How affecting to a 
heart, at all under the sway of the love of Christ, 
there to witness whole nations of men wrapt in the 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



319 



cold mantle of moral death, and to feel the sad con- 
viction that entire generations are destined to sink 
into its gloomy night, ere the alone adequate relief 
will be brought to their rescue. If we may be al- 
lowed to obtrude our own impression, we can say, 
that often, while travelling along the shores of 
Western Asia, have we cast our eyes and sent our 
thoughts westward, toward this land of privilege, 
such as the sun nowhere else shines upon ; while 
the exclamation has broken from our lips : " Oh that 
ministers and people there could witness, for one 
brief hour, these desolations ! How would the view 
impress upon them a sense of their own responsi- 
bility ? How would the minister preach, and the 
hearer pray and act ? Would that we had a trum- 
pet tongue, that could send its notes beyond the 
rocky mountains ! Ephraim should be constrain- 
ed no longer to envy Judah, nor Judah to vex 
Ephraim. Shame on that waste of moral power of 
the church in her contentions about the mint, the 
Annis and the Oummin? Long since might the 
world have been converted, but for these baleful in- 
fluences within her pale. 

It is with no desire to kindle or perpetuate such 
a spirit that we sit down to the consideration of our 
topic. It is more than probable that our thoughts 
would not have been specially interested or directed 
to this subject, had it not been for the attitude of 



320 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



sectarian intolerance assumed by a portion of our 
brethren of the Baptist denomination, in regard to 
our excellent version of the Holy Bible, at the very 
period of our visit in Palestine, which was the oc- 
casion of bringing the subject particularly to our 
consideration in the progress of our travels. 

Our simple aim is to elicit truth : most heartily 
shall we rejoice if our humble contributions shall aid 
others in its search in this or any other relation, 
who may not have enjoyed some of the advantages 
that have mercifully fallen to our lot while visiting 
the principal places in Palestine of Scriptural in- 
terest — that land where Christianity and its symbols 
had their birth ; where 3 with the Bible open before 
us, we had the advantage of examining, on the very 
ground of their occurrence, those narrated incidents 
which have special reference to the ordinance of 
baptism in apostolic days. 

There seems to have gathered over the minds of 
very many of the readers of our English Bibles an 
impression, so early imbibed as to be to them almost 
innate, that the chief object, the grand design of the 
Baptist, in repairing to the Jordan, was, that he might 
there immerse his disciples beneath its waters. From 
our personal inspection of the scene, we believe such 
an impression entirely erroneous ; and we cherish 
none other than the kindest feeling towards our 
Baptist brethren, when we add, that we are well 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



321 



persuaded that there are thousands, now within the 
pale of that denomination, who would not have been 
there had they known the ph3 r sical difficulties which 
invalidate a belief in their exclusive dogma on 
Scriptural localities. 

"While it is obvious that " John's baptism" was 
not Christian baptism, Acts, 19 : 5 ; yet, in the 
mode of its administration, it may have an import- 
ant relation to it. We shall not undertake to prove 
the exact mode of administration which John prac- 
ticed. This Ave are not called to do, especially as 
we read, Heb. 9 : 10, that there were " divers wash- 
ings," Diaphorois Baptismois; different or various 
baptisms, as it is in the original — under the old dis- 
pensation, one of which, as is clearly seen in the 
context, v. 13, was the ashes " of a red heifer min- 
gled with clean water, sprinkling the unclean." 
Numbers, 19 : 17. Whether the act was performed 
by sprinkling or affusion, whether the subject stood 
erect, or kneeled, was ancle-deep in water, or upon 
a parched desert, we cannot believe was very es- 
sential. As practiced by John, the rite could imply 
but little more than the emphatic reliance of the 
party on the divinely-authorized announcements of 
the prophet, touching the immediate approach of 
Messiah, and a life conformable to such expectation. 

From our personal knowledge of Oriental man- 
ners and customs, which we believe to have come 

14* 



322 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



down from the earliest times to the present day, 
mainly unchanged, if we felt in conscience bound 
to literal conformity to the manner in which the 
two positive institutions of the Gospel, Baptism and 
the Lord's Supper, were administered at their origin, 
we should feel also bound to disown, if not excom- 
municate, the whole visible Church, not excepting 
even our Baptist brethren, as unwarrantable inno- 
vators, and establish in our humble and isolated 
self, a communion on the apostolic basis. In regard 
to Baptism, there are many considerations to induce 
the belief, that pouring water on the subject, was 
the original manner. We see that indicated in 
present customs of drinking and washing. It was 
amusing to view an Arab hold a small water skin 
or jar above, and pour water from it in a small 
stream into his mouth. " I will pour water upon 
him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground : 
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing 
upon thy offspring." Isa. 44 : 3. The children of 
believers seem to be included in this covenant and 
promise. In washing the hands, it is still the duty 
of an upper servant to pour water on the hands of 
the master. We find, II Kings, 3 : 11, Elisha 
"poured water on the hands of Elijah," in the rela- 
tion of an upper servant. So we doubt not it was 
with Abraham and his mysterious guests. Gen. 
18:4; and also in Luke, 11 : 38, and other similar 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



323 



cases. In the manner, too, of sitting and eating, we 
find our innovations from the primitive customs 
equally great, and which, to an Oriental are very 
barbarian. 

We shall be prepared to form a more correct esti- 
mate of John at the Jordan, if we first review his 
labor there, in connection with the scriptural inti- 
mations of him at other localities. There are mainly 
four places specially designated, where he baptized : 
the Wilderness of Judea, at the Eiver Jordan, Beth- 
abara, and Enon. If the materials for an illustration 
of our subject are not abundant, we believe they 
significantly speak the same language. 

The Wilderness of Judea is a region well ascer- 
tained. Its characteristics are alike remarkable and 
unchanged since the day that David was a fugitive 
from the hands of Saul amid its wastes. We are 
accustomed to associate the idea of a dense, untrod- 
den forest with the term Wilderness ; and probably 
very many, if not a large proportion of Bible read- 
ers, have associated in their thoughts such an imag- 
inary region, when they read the accounts of John 
as we find them narrated in the Gospel. Nothing- 
could be more unlike the reality. David has graph- 
ically described it in the sixty -third Psalm : "A dry 
and thirsty land, where no water is." The beauty 
of this Psalm can only be fully appreciated when 
we transport ourselves into the place and circum- 



324 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



stances in which it was composed. Josephus, a few 
years subsequent to the period of John, incidentally 
describing this region, says of Jericho : — "It is situ- 
ated in a plain ; but a naked and barren mountain 
of very great length hangs over it, which extends 
to the land about Sythopolis (Bethshan) northward, 
but as far as the country of Sodom and the utmost 
limits of the lake Asphaltites southward. This 
mountain is all of it very uneven and uninhabited, by 
reason of its barrenness." And again : " The coun- 
try as far as Jerusalem is desert and stony ; but that 
as far as Jordan and the lake Asphaltites lies lower, 
indeed, though it be equally desert and barren." — 
B. W. Oh. 8. 

We well remember our astonishment when our 
eyes first took in this extended landscape from the top 
of the Mount of Olives. To some of its remarkable 
features we have called the attention of our readers 
in our previous chapter on i: John in the Wilderness." 

The region assumes, as we have seen, this naked 
and desolate character soon after you leave Beth- 
any. Much of it is too barren even to produce that 
little shrub, which the Arabs term Bellan, and 
which generally abounds on the most sterile spots 
in Syria and Palestine ; in our travelling notes we 
put it down as an unusual phenomenon, when we 
occasionally saw it in this Wilderness. We must 
here stop to remark, that there are the most satis- 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN, 



325 



factory reasons for believing, that this little bush is 
the very article to which our Saviour referred, Matt. 
6 : 30, " the grass of the field, which to-day is, and 
to-morrow is cast into the oven." It is a heath-like, 
thorny bnsh, growing in small bunches, and from 
eight to fifteen inches in height. As of old, it con- 
stitutes an important article of fuel ; it is gathered 
and brought into Jerusalem in large masses, on the 
backs of donkeys ; literally, agreeable to the descrip- 
tion, it is " to-day in the field, and to-morrow cast 
into the oven." In the winter season, when we saw 
it, it was " clothed''* with a small leaf, and we ob- 
served with no little interest, that it also had a 
minute yellow flower, which it required the aid of 
our microscopic glass well to examine. We have 
in our cabinet good specimens of this grass, some 
of which we rescued from the flames of the baker's 
oven, while we were in Jerusalem, that we might 
exhibit it to our friends ; and we may well pause, 
in this digression from our main design, to admire 
the simple, and yet affecting lesson which it was 
used to impress. One other thought it forcibly 
awakened, — we had little doubt that it was of this 
flexible thorn bush that the crown of thorns was 
platted, which deriding and cruel hands once placed 
upon the Redeemer's brow. 

The wisdom that guided John to the selection of 
this strange place to commence his public ministry 



326 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



is capable of the most perfect vindication; securing 
in the best way the ends designed, and fulfilling 
prophetic predictions. 

John doubtless posted himself on this great high- 
way or thoroughfare leading from Jerusalem to 
J ericho, and there, as a wayside preacher, made his 
announcements to the passing throng ; who, es- 
pecially at the seasons of the festivals, frequented 
the ancient highway in the Wilderness. But our 
present object is not to vindicate the wisdom which 
guided John in the selection of the Wilderness to pro- 
claim his mighty theme, but to direct our thoughts to 
the locality, and to the fact, that there he performed 
the rite of Baptism. As soon as he began to gain 
disciples, he began to baptize them. " John did bap- 
tize in the Wilderness, and preached the baptism of 
repentance for the remission of sins. v — Mark, 1 : 4. 

Mark seems to have placed this explicit declara- 
tion in the beginning of his Gospel ; and who may 
presume to deny that one clear and explicit state- 
ment of a fact, or a doctrine contained in the in- 
spired record, is not as good as a hundred, especially 1 
when such statement does not conflict with other 
statements on the same topic ? or who shall dare to 
explain away the clear statement of an Evangelist, 
to accommodate a dogma of sectarianism ? 

]STo man that has ever surveyed this "Wilderness 
will assume that baptism by immersion was possible 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN, 



327 



in that " dry and thirsty land." The topography 
of the region utterly forbids it. If administered by 
sprinkling or affusion, the water-skin of the traveller 
would afford an ample supply for a season ; but ere 
long the place became too strait. On this highway 
in the Wilderness there was no adequate room for 
the gathering crowds who, aroused by the an- 
nouncements of the Baptist, so congenial to the ex- 
pectation of the times, from Jerusalem and all Judea 
were flocking to his ministry. 

Here, amid these naked and thirsty hills, there 
is no shade from the scorching sun, unless it be the 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land ; no cool 
spring of water to supply the exhausted sack of the 
lingering crowds who waited on the instructions of 
the prophet. 

The ends of wilderness preaching had, in fact, 
been attained, and the Baptist was necessitated to 
look around for another field to carry forward the 
reformation so auspiciously begun. 

We have no definite information respecting the 
season when John entered upon his public ministry 
in the "Wilderness, or of the length of time he was 
there occupied. This much we do know, however, 
■ — his announcements thrilled the nation with the 
most exciting expectations in regard to their long- 
expected Messiah; and multitudes, from all parts 
of the land, hastened to hear his instructions. " And 



328 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and 
they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in 
the river of Jordan, confessing their sins." 

There are valid reasons for believing in the gen- 
erally-received tradition, that it was to one of the 
fords of the Jordan, some two hours distant from 
Jericho, that John repaired on leaving the Wilder- 
ness. The point selected seems to have been, if not 
the very place, at least in the immediate proximity 
of the place, where of old the tribes of Israel had 
crossed the rapid stream, dry shod, while the ark of 
the Covenant, with the priests that bare it, rested 
securely on its uncovered channel. 

That on leaving the Wilderness, John should 
have repaired to another leading thoroughfare of the 
land, entirely accords with the genius of his char- 
acter and habits. He mingled not in the usual and 
common conditions of society around him. We 
never hear of him in city or village. " He came 
neither eating bread nor drinking wine." In these 
respects, his conduct appeared to some so eccentric, 
that they said " He hath a devil." Luke, 7 : 83. 
This view of his habits is, in fact, the only rational 
way of accounting for his labors in so remarkable 
a place as that portion of the Jordan valley to which 
he repaired. 

The topographical features of this valley are even 
more remarkable than those of the Wilderness of 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



329 



Judea. Its description has been the subject of a 
previous chapter. During full seven of the warm- 
est months of the year, not a drop of rain falls upon 
its surface. Such being the facts, with the excep- 
tion of a narrow belt on the margin of the river, and 
the region immediately around Jericho, this whole 
valley has been a desert since the day " the Lord 
overthrew the cities of the plain, and all the in- 
habitants of the cities, and that which grew upon 
the ground." Gen. 19 : 25. Such is this portion 
of the Jordan valley. 

In view of this scene, a variety of considerations 
have impressed us as difficulties in the way of the 
Baptist theory of immersion. There is little proba- 
bility that any village occupied this region of the 
river, where the conveniences for a change of rai- 
ment could have been procured for the converts, 
and we may well doubt if one in a thousand of 
those who waited on John's ministry carried with 
them such a change. The nature of the valley, the 
records of the Bible, the statements of Josephus and 
the testimony of tradition, all confirm the view that 
it was merely to a ford of the Jordan, and not a 
village on its banks, that John repaired. 

We find that the tribes of Israel, after crossing 
the Jordan, proceeded immediately to " Gil gal, on 
the east border of Jericho," Josh. 4 : 9, which 
place, Josephus says, was fifty stadia (six and a half 



330 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



miles) from the Jordan, and ten stadia from Jericho ; 
being in exact agreement with the region as we 
now find it, within the reach, of artificial irrigation 
from the fine fountains of Elisha and Duk, to which 
we have before referred as at Jericho. The remark- 
able descent of the Jordan, and the consequent 
rapidity of the stream, are facts beyond dispute, in 
which travellers in every age have agreed. To these 
facts, and some of the results involved, we have 
claimed the consideration of our readers in our 
previous chapter. We will only add to what lias 
already been adduced in that relation, that the 
lower portion of the Jordan is by far less sinuous 
in its course than it is in its more central parts, and 
the rush of its waters therefore is less obstructed. 

To us, after looking over the region, it has ap- 
peared entirely inexplicable, why John did not re- 
pair to the clear and prolific Fountain of Elisha, 
rather than to the turbid, rapid, and dangerous Jor- 
dan, if the immersion of his disciples had been one 
of his chief objects in resorting to its banks. This 
fountain of Elisha, II Kings, 2 : 19, was in close 
proximity to J ericho, and we have the authority of 
Josephus, that pools and swimming baths existed 
there at the period in question. We are informed 
by him that the young High Priest Aristobulus, the 
last of the Asmoneans, was here drowned in one of 
the swimming-baths, at the instigation of Herod the 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



331 



Great. The popularity of John at this period, would, 
doubtless, have secured for him a ready access to 
these quiet and pure waters, where the conveniences 
for a change of raiment were at hand, if the form of 
administering the rite by him had made it necessary. 

We have, in fact) not the remotest intimation in 
the Bible, that those who were baptized by John, 
or subsequently by the apostles, had any occasion 
for a change of raiment in consequence. 

Judging from analogy, as well as from Scripture 
record, the excitement consequent upon the preach- 
ing of John, was brief in its duration ; but In that 
brief period multitudes rushed to hear his message, 
and received his baptism. " He was a burning and 
a shining light, and ye wera willing for a season to 
rejoice in his light." John, 5 : 35. 

By immersion, we do not believe it possible that 
John could have administered the rite of baptism 
to the great number who thronged around him at 
the Jordan. It may not be out of place to put down 
a calculation that we made, in this view of the ques- 
tion. It is not necessary, and we do not presume 
to approximate very near to the full numbers. We 
will, however, assume, that the very low number of 
one hundred and twenty persons, each day, for the 
time, received the rite at the hand of John. ISTow, 
if our Baptist brethren are just right in the form of 
leading their disciples into the water, and plunging 



332 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



them, one by one, beneath, it, we conceive that four 
minutes for each person so baptized, would be as 
little time as can be allotted for the service, in the 
rapid and dangerous waters of the Jordan. We 
have, then, eight hours of each day for John to be 
in the water engaged in this service, for we have no 
intimation that he delegated it to others. But we 
are warranted, from the Grospel narratives, in be- 
lieving that more than thrice the number indicated 
were often daily baptized by John. " Then said he 
to the multitudes that came forth to be baptized of 
him," &c. Luke, 3 : 7. We shall leave it to others 
to judge whether any mortal man would have 
strength for such a service ; to say nothing about 
the time it required, or the perils of the river. The 
custom, so full of danger, and so often fatal, of mod- 
ern pilgrims at the Jordan, is just in keeping with 
their other superstitious practices, and will not be 
cited by our Baptist friends to sustain their views. 

It has been the function of superstition and for- 
malism, in every age, to add to the simple and sig- 
nificant rites of the Gospel, saying, with Peter: 
"Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my 
head." How long John remained in the vicinity of 
the Jordan, we do not know ; certain it is, our 
Saviour seems to attach much the most importance 
to his Wilderness labors. " What went ye out into 
the Wilderness to see ?" Matt. 11 : 7. 



JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 



333 



We come now to John at Bethabara. This 
" house of passage" beyond Jordan, would seem to 
have been a khan, or resting-plaee for travellers, 
somewhere in the valley, between the Jordan and 
the hills of Moab, that borders it on the east. It is 
referred to twice, as beyond Jordan, and it is for 
others to prove that there was water to immerse the 
followers of John. Some critics, however, say it 
should have been Bethany — " a place of dates." We 
will only remark, that if they are correct in this, it 
does not affect the statement, but it may go to con- 
firm a suggestion, which Ave have elsewhere made, 
that the " wild honey," which was the food of John, 
and dates are identical. 

We next hear of John at ^Enon. " And John 
also was baptizing at i£non, near to Salim, because 
there was much water there." John, 3 : 23. Con- 
cerning this " place of a fountain or spring of water," 
nothing very definite is known. We made partic- 
ular inquiries of the EeV. Mr. Nicolayson, who had 
resided twenty-five years in Jerusalem, concerning 
the place. His information went to confirm the 
general opinion that it was a location in the hilly 
region south of the Grilboa range, where there were 
springs of water, as the name implies ; probably on 
one of the roads or thoroughfares leading from 
Samaria or is ablous to the Jordan, and a convenient 
watering-place for the traveller, An}' one who has 



334 JOHN AT THE JORDAN. 

visited the East, knows how universally such places 
are selected as points for resting. Here John, 
doubtless, met and taught a passing or gathering 
auditory, and administered the rite of baptism. 
From the fact that iEnon was near to Salim, it 
would seem to have been on the route from Nablous 
to the Jordan. The ancient Salim, or Shalem, 
Gen. 33 : 18, as it has been identified by Dr. Eob- 
inson, was about three miles east from ''Jacob's 
well." We saw distinctly the present little village 
which marks the place, when w^e were at Mount 
Gerizim. It is memorable as the spot where Jacob 
pitched his tent when he came from Padanaram. 

This region has many springs of water. To us 
it appears quite remarkable that any one can impar- 
tially view these scenes of John's labors, without 
seeing abundant reasons for doubting the infalli- 
bility of the Baptist dogma. Our brief view of its 
topographical features, can convey but a very inad- 
equate impression of their reality. 



CHAPTER 



XXXIV. 



THE DEAD SEA. 

Departure from the Jordan— Thoughts of home— Ride to the Dead Sea— Region 
of desolation — Arrival at northern shore of sea — Gloomy scene — Lunch on 
its shore— Water clear, salt and bitter — Extent of the lake — Western hills — 
Moab — Lt. Lynch's survey — No bitumen at the present day— Rapid process 
of Evaporation — Waters of Jordan absorbed. 

After lingering on the banks of the Jordan 
three-quarters of an hour, we remounted our horses, 
We had now reached, in the plan of our travels, 
our farthest Eastern destination, and were nearly 
eight thousand miles from home — "sweet home." 
A desert was yet to be crossed, and other continents 
and seas traversed, before we even reached that 
wide ocean that intervened ; yet distance and sur- 
rounding scenes of gloom and desolation seemed to 
clothe with new charms home's attractions, that 
even here waked up emotions of delight at the sug- 
gestion, as we slowly turned our backs upon the 
river, that thenceforward our destination was to be 
Westward and homeward. 

We now proceeded on our way to the Dead Sea, 
diverging somewhat to the west of the path of 
the river, which enters the sea considerably inclined 



336 



THE DEAD SEA. 



to the eastern mountains. Our track was over a 
region of utter desolation. Much of the ground 
was thinly covered with a white incrustation, which, 
on tasting, we found to be a nitrous deposit, doubt- 
less caused by the precipitation of the saline ingre- 
dients, which combine with the atmosphere while 
passing over the Dead Sea in times of sirocco storms. 
A ride of an hour and a quarter, under a burning 
sun, brought us to the northern shore of that strange 
sea, whose heavy waters cover, as well as commem- 
orate the dire catastrophe of "the cities of the 
plain." We opened our Bibles, and read in the 
nineteenth chapter of Genesis the account of the 
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities 
about them, " condemned with an overthrow, mak- 
ing them an ensample unto those that after should 
live ungodly," II Peter, 2 : 6. We were affect- 
ingly admonished of that sorer ruin which impends 
those thousands who, in their own highly-favored 
land, truly exalted to heaven in their privileges, yet 
live and die in the neglect of the glorious Gospel. 
Sodom and Gomorrah shall rise up in the judgment 
and condemn them. Our prayer was here raised 
that we and ours, to the latest times, might heed 
this note of warning. When shall the church arise 
from her apathy, and hasten the lingerers around 
her pale, saying in the language of heaven's im- 
portunity : " Escape for thy life; look not behind 



THE DEAD SEA. 



337 



thee, neither stay thou in ^11 the plain ; escape to 
the mountain, lest thou be consumed." 

Here, at one o'clock, P. M., we dismounted from 
our horses, and, spreading our cloth on the sandy 
shore, ate our lunch. Immediately before us a 
narrow plain extended seven or eight hundred feet 
into the sea. It is spread out in its southern ex- 
tremity, and was covered with a mass of unhewn 
stones, which at some early period may have com- 
posed an edifice. A gloomy silence reigned over 
the scene. Not a living thing was to be seen in 
or out of the water, and its heavy volume lay like 
a molten sea before us. The gravity of the water 
is very great, and probably exceeds any other. It 
holds in solution a large quantity of chloride of cal- 
cium, magnesium and sodium, beside other proper- 
ties. To the taste it is very salt, bitter and nauseous. 
The water was so remarkably clear and transparent, 
that one might well be tempted to suppose its taste 
as delicious to a thirsty traveller as its aspect was 
beautiful to behold. On scooping up my hand full, 
and taking a respectable quantity of it into my 
mouth, all such impressions were quickly dissipa- 
ted. The sensation on the skin, too, is particularly 
stinging and unpleasant. This had to be endured 
till I found fresh water for washing at Jericho. 

The Dead Sea is forty miles in length, from north 
to south, its average width being ten to twelve 

15 



338 



THE DEAD SEA, 



miles. We had a fine view clown a large part of 
its extent, as the atmosphere was perfectly clear. 
The higher ridges of the peninsula, which, from the 
eastern shore, projects into it, some thirty miles 
distant, appeared like two men-of-war anchored in 
the midst of the sea. The high and frowning ridges 
which border it on the west are barren and desolate, 
the western hills being about fifteen hundred feet 
high, while the mountains of Moab and Amnion on 
the east, rise less precipitously two thousand to 
twenty -five hundred feet high. 

Drs. Robinson and Smith explored the southern 
and western shores, and Lt. Lynch and his party 
sounded the sea in its whole extent, from which it- 
is ascertained that this northern portion of it is 
deep, corresponding somewhat with the height of 
the western hills, while at its southern extremity 
the waters are very shallow. In his narrative he 
remarks : " The inference from the Bible that this 
entire chasm was a plain sunk and overwhelmed bv 
the wrath of God, seems to be sustained by the ex- 
traordinary character of our soundings. The bot- 
tom of this sea consists of two submerged plains, an 
elevated and a depressed one, the first averaging thir- 
teen, the latter thirteen hundred feet below the sur- 
face. Through the northern and largest and deep- 
est one, in a line corresponding with the bed of the 
Jordan, is a ravine which again seems to corre- 



THE DEAD SEA. 



339 



sponcl with the Wady el Jeib, or a ravine within a 
ravine." 

We had no inducements to prosecute our journey 
in this region further. While exploring the south- 
ern extremity of the sea, and in close proximity to 
the salt mountains of Usdum, Lt. Lynch came upon 
a remarkable "pillar of salt," which he thus de- 
scribes : " Soon after, to our astonishment, we saw 
on the eastern side of Usdum, one-third the distance 
from its northern extremity, a lofty round pillar 
standing apparently detached from the general 
mass, at the head of a deep, narrow and abrupt 
chasm. We immediately pulled in for the shore, 
and Dr. Anderson and I went up and examined it. 
The beach was a soft, slimy mud, incrustated with 
salt, and a short distance from the water covered 
with saline fragments and flakes of bitumen. We 
found the pillar to be of solid salt, capped with car- 
bonate of lime, cylindrical in front, and pyramidal 
behind. The upper or rounded part is forty feet 
high, resting on a kind of oval pedestal from forty 
to sixty feet above the level of the sea. It slightly 
decreases in size upwards, crumbles at the top, and 
is one entire mass of crystallization. A prop or but- 
tress connects it with the mountain behind, and the 
whole is covered with debris of a light stone color." 

On all the old maps that I have met, not except- 
ing those published by the American Sunday School 



340 



THE DEAD SEA. 



Union, the Jordan and Dead Sea, as well as some 
other localities, are very erroneously exhibited. 
" The Cerographic Bible Atlas of S. E. Morse," and 
the Key. 0. B. Bidwell's large " Missionary Map of 
Western Asia," as well as recent publications of the 
American Sunday School Union, are compiled from 
Dr. Robinson's map, and other reliable authorities ; 
and on them they are more correctly delineated. 

"We made search around the shores for bitumen, 
but found none. It is rarely seen on this northern 
extremity of the lake. We found specimens of a 
black fetid limestone, strongly impregnated with 
sulphur. This stone is procured here, and used at 
Jerusalem for ornamental cups and vases which are 
sold to the pilgrims, and where we afterwards pro- 
cured them wrought with considerable skill. 

We noticed driftwood on the shore, some of it 
deposited high up in time of severe sirocco storms. 
A taste of the water will quickly convince one that 
no living thing can exist beneath its surface. It 
has been said that birds do not fly around or over 
the sea. That is doubtless a mistake, although we 
saw none. As the sea has no visible outlet, and 
the Jordan pours its unceasing volume into it, the 
inquiry is often made, what becomes of the water ? 
The rapid processes of evaporation in this deep and 
heated chasm, is doubtless the true solution. Cork- 
ing up with care a quart bottle of the water, that 



THE DEAD SEA. 



341 



we might allow our friends personally to test its 
qualities, we remounted our horses at half-past two 
o'clock, P. M v and returned to our encampment at 
Jericho, which we reached at half-past four o'clock, 
and remained for the night ; from which place 
indications of an impending storm hastened our 
departure for Jerusalem, on the following morning, 
by the same route we have before described in our 
journey to Jericho. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



BETHLEHEM. 

Return from the Jordan— Continued walks about Zion — Preparations for 
journey — Departure from Jerusalem — Plains of Rephaim — Wind storm- 
Tomb of Rachel — Arrival at Bethlehem — Convents and Church of the 
Nativity — Grotto of the Nativity — Cell of Jerome — Fields of Boaz— David 
anointed by Samuel — Song of Angels. 

We returned in safety to Jerusalem, from our 
excursion to Jericho, the Jordan and Dead Sea, the 
incidents of which were well adapted to trace im- 
pressions not soon to be effaced. We were then 
busily occupied three clays more in our walks about 
Zion, and in making some farther needful prepa- 
rations to pursue the long journey still before us. 
"We should be happy, did circumstances permit, to 
conduct our readers to many of the places of interest 
which engaged our attention in and around Jeru- 
salem, to which we have as yet not even made an 
allusion. TTe can merely recur to some of these, 
The " tombs of the Kings/' as they are now desig- 
nated, situated half a mile north of the Damascus 
gate, are entered from a sunken court. The excava- 
tions are extensive, and the sculpture well executed, 
more nearly rivaling those of Egypt than any others 



BET 11 I. E II K M . 



343 



in the vicinity. They are referred, with obvious 
propriety, to the Roman period. We made a very 
interesting excursion to the tombs of the Judges, 
which, with numerous others, are found on the road 
to Neby Samuel, or the ancient Mizpeh. These, 
doubtless, belong to an early period of Jewish his- 
tory. At the distance of two miles from the city, we 
observed the debris of a former village. Mizpeh is 
nearly two hours distant, north by west, from the 
city, and is the highest point of land in the region. 
It would be a pleasant reminiscence to spread on 
our pages the outlines, at least, of an interesting and 
evangelical sermon listened to from the mouth of 
the Rev. Mr. Nicolayson, in the English chapel at- 
tached to the Consulate, on the northern end of 
Mount Zion. It was truly an interesting circum- 
stance to hear the Gospel proclaimed in our own 
vernacular on the heights of Zion. 

We here desire to record, what we had reason so 
often to commend, as an honor to the British nation 
and its government. Wherever we found a British 
Ambassador residing, and also generally in every 
large city on the continent of Europe, as well as in 
the Orient, where they have a Consul, there a chapel 
is sustained, in which the services of the Established 
Church are regularly administered by a stated chap- 
lain, on the Sabbath, in the English tongue. We 
are glad to be able also to say, that we generally 



344 



BETHLEHEM. 



heard the truth plainly proclaimed from their 
pulpits. 

On Mount Zion, the Armenians have a very large 
Convent, in which they have extensive accommoda- 
tions for pilgrims. Here, in their gorgeous chapel, 
we were shown a spot held by them in great vener- 
ation, as the place on which J ames, the brother of 
John, was executed by Herod Agrippa. Acts, 
12 : 1, 2. In this convent, great numbers of Ori- 
ental pilgrims are seen, in their various costumes, 
"Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopo- 
tamia," and men from Mount Ararat and the regions 
of Kurdistan. 

We have no heart to ask the reader to look with 
us on the wretched leprous, as they stand near the 
Jaffa gate, begging alms, or in their miserable and 
assigned quarters, on the sides of Zion. Their con- 
dition is not only wretched, but hopeless, for there 
is no prophet divinely authorized to send them to 
Jordan's waters to wash and be clean. The Mosk 
over the reputed tomb of David, is on the top of 
Zion, south of the city walls. There, too, is the 
reputed site of the house of Caiaphas, and near it 
the Armenian and Protestant cemetery. There we 
a view of the mountains east of the Dead Sea. 

The Latin Convent, near our quarters, on the 
sides of Acra, is a large establishment. In it the 



BETHLEHEM. 



345 



Monks carry on an extensive trade in rosaries and 
all manner of trinkets for Pilgrims. 

We are admonished that we took our pen to give 
some account of Bethlehem. Yet we feel assured 
that we need not apologize for having thus lingered 
around the Holy City. We are compelled, how- 
ever, now to take an unwilling departure from its 
precincts. 

Bethlehem is two hours, or about six miles, south 
of Jerusalem. Our arrangements were all made to 
leave the city on the twenty -third day of January. 
The weather during the two weeks we had spent in 
the city, would well correspond to a New York Oc- 
tober. The wind was blowing fresh from the south- 
west, and to our unpracticed eyes, there were no 
pressing indications of a storm. We passed out at 
the Jaffa gate, and pursued the usual track toward 
Bethlehem, crossing the valley of Hinnom, near the 
point where the aqueduct of Solomon is brought 
over the valley to the sides of Zion, and passing up 
on the north side of " the Hill of Evil Council." 
We then came to the plains of Bephaim, the scene 
of two severe conflicts of David with the Philistines, 
n Samuel, 5 : 18-22. On reaching this exposed 
place, we found that the wind had increased almost 
to a tempest, and it required great exertion for our 
ladies to keep upon their saddles and guide their 
unwilling horses in the face of the storm. In an 

15* 



346 



BETHLEHEM. 



liour after leaving the gates of the city, we reached 
the ruined convent of Mar Elyas, yet occupied and 
resorted to by pilgrims of the Greek church. Here 
we stopped a few minutes, and put on our India- 
Eubber overcoats to protect us from the penetrating 
power of the wind storm. We had found little use 
for these garments (so necessary to the traveller) be- 
fore. This convent occupies a considerable swell 
of land, and on leaving it we had Bethlehem in 
view. Passing on down a moderate declivity we 
came to the Moslem Wely, which designates the re- 
puted tomb of Eachel. We see no reason to call 
in question the authenticity of this spot. Here 
Jacob was suddenly called to part with his beloved 
Eachel, in circumstances of painful interest, which 
seem never to have lost their impression on the 
heart of the Patriarch. The child of her expiring 
agonies she called Ben-oni, — the son of my sorrow. 
But to Jacob, in his grief and loneliness, he proved 
a Benjamin, the son of the right hand. " And 
Eachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, 
which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a pillar 
upon her grave : that is the pillar of Eaehel's grave 
unto this day." Gren. 35 : 16-20, and 48 : 7. 

The rigor of the now impending rain storm com- 
pelled us to hasten forward as fast as possible, and 
we happily reached the Latin or Franciscan convent 



B E T II L E HEM. 



347 



and gained admission into it, ere the storm in all its 
violence burst upon us. 

The Church of the Nativity is one of the " Holy 
Places" in Palestine, which in recent years have oc- 
cupied so prominent a place in the politics of Eu- 
rope, and on account of which the dogs of war have 
ostensibly been set loose. The church occupies the 
eastern termination of the high ridge on which the 
town is situated. It is virtually castellated by three 
great convents, and might well be mistaken for a 
formidable fortress. The large wing on the west 
and south belongs to the Armenians. The south- 
eastern part is that occupied by the Monks of the 
Greek Church. The north and eastern portion 
overhanging the deep valley on that side of the 
structure, by the Latins. With them we found 
very comfortable apartments, constructed and kept 
for the use of pilgrims of the higher classes, who 
visit Bethlehem. 

We entered the convent by a very low door, 
which led us directly into the nave of the church, 
now partitioned off from the transepts on account 
of its being the scene of such frequent and violent 
feuds between the different Christian sects. The 
boys of the village find it a very convenient place 
to conduct their sports in stormy weather. The 
Church of the Nativity is the only one of the numer- 
ous edifices erected in Palestine over " hoi y places," 



348 



B K T H L E B B M . 



by the Empress Helena, that lias survived the 

vicissitudes of fifteen centimes. The convents 
which surround it are of much more recent origin. 
They appear well adapted to afford good accommo- 
dations for a large number of pilgrims. TTe were 
informed that the Greek and Armenian convents 
had each now only five or six monks permanently 
residing in them. There were ten or twelve Fran- 
ciscans in the Latin convent. They have a chapel 
in their convent, on the north side of the church. 
The Greeks occupy the eastern portion, or high 
altar of the church, as their chapel : the Armenians, 
the north transept, from which there is a flight 
of stairs conducting to the Grotto of the nativity 
below. There is also a similar passage to the Grotto 
from the south transept, but this transept is little 
used for religious purposes. From it there is a pas- 
sage into the Greek convent. The nave of the 
church is imposing. It has four rows of fine Cor- 
inthian columns, forty-eight in all. In the ceiling 
two or three large patches yet remain of the mosaics 
with which it was originally so magnificently adorn- 
ed. Some of these mosaics are also seen in the 
north transept. 

The Grotto of the nativity is the chief place of 
attraction, and to which all the other parts are 
mere subordinate appendages. It is reached by the 



BETH L E HEM. 



340 



winding flight of stairs from the transepts, as we 
have before remarked. 

On our first visit to this interesting spot, the 
identity of which we shall not stop to discuss, we 
were conducted by a Franciscan monk through a 
subterranean passage leading from their convent, or 
rather the chapel of St. Katharine, to the Grotto. 
Each one of our party was furnished with a lighted 
wax taper of considerable size, one of which, as a 
matter of curiosity, we now have. The Grotto is 
adorned by numerous rich silver lamps, suspended 
from the ceiling, always lighted. A small alcove, 
or niche, overhung with lamps, on the pavement of 
which is a large star, inlaid, marks the place where 
you are told that the infant Saviour was born. A 
short distance on the right of this, but excavated a 
little lower out of the lime-stone rock, is the reputed 
manger (a large alabaster trough) where he was 
laid. In this place the three- leading sects named 
claim concurrent rights, or rather enjoy them, as 
they alternate in the use of the apartment in their 
daily prescribed acts of worship. 

From the Grotto of the Nativity we were con 
ducted to the cell where Jerome took up his resi- 
dence about A. D. 386. Here he remained thirty- 
six years, until the day of his death. It was in this 
cell that he translated the Bible from its original 
language into the Latin, his labors in this depart- 



350 



"BETHLEHEM. 



merit being the foundation of tlie Latin Vulgate 
version of the Holy Scriptures. Here, too. the 
tombs of Jerome and Eusebius are shown to the 
traveller. From the flat roof of the convent we 
had a fine view of the " Frank Mountain," and be- 
yond it. on the east, the Dead Sea and mountains 
of Moab were full in our view. 

Bethlehem is wholly occupied by a Christian 
population. They manufacture, with considerable 
skill, many articles, for sale to the numerous pilgrims 
who visit the convents. Their dress is a little pecu- 
liar, as the stripes in the loose over-coat, or aba. 
does not reach to its bottom, as is usual among the 
Arabs. Our readers will receive a very good im- 
pression of a Bethlehemite of the present day. from 
the plate which has been engraved specially to em- 
bellish our volume. 

We should have left Palestine with very inad- 
equate impressions in regard to the severities of the 
winter, which occasionally for short periods are 
there experienced, if the storm of which we have 
spoken had not occurred until we had reached the 
Philistine plain. 

The rain, which compelled us to take shelter in 
the convent, soon turned to snow, and the tempest 
without raged with great violence for nearly two 
da}'s. Ps. 117 : 16, 17. This, with the intervening 
of the Sabbath, detained us in the convent full four 



BETH L E II E M 



days, affording ample time to review the historic 
events which have made Bethlehem memorable in 
the annals of sacred history. 

It was an interesting train of thought, as we looked 
down on the long, steep and fertile valley, which 
extends eastward from the northerly side of the 
convent, to infer that these, perhaps, were the rich 
fields of Boaz, where Ruth, the Moabitish damsel, 
gleaned from the gathering barley harvest of the 
wealthy kinsman of her deceased husband. 

Here, too, perhajDS, it was that her great-grandson, 
the youthful David, was found, when Samuel came 
to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as 
the future king of Israel. " And Samuel said unto 
Jesse, Are here all thy children ? And he said 
there remaineth yet the youngest, and behold he 
keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse. 
Send and fetch him : for we will not sit down till 
he come hither. And he sent and brought him in. 
Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful coun- 
tenance and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, 
Arise, anoint him : for this is he.' r I Sam. 16 : 11, 12. 
" He chose David also his servant, and took him 
from the sheep folds : From following ewes great 
with young, he brought him to feed Jacob his peo- 
ple, and Israel his inheritance.'' Ps. 88 : 70, 71. 

It is down in this valley of which we have spoken, 
at the distance of less than a mile east from the con- 



352 



BETHLEHEM. 



vent, that tradition has long pointed as the place 
where, ten centuries later, there were shepherds 
abiding in the field, keeping watch of their flocks by 
night. A night the most memorable in time's an- 
nals ! " And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon 
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about 
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel 
said unto them, Fear not : for behold I bring you 
good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all peo- 
ple ; For unto you is born this day in the city of 
David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord !" 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



JOUKNEY TO HEBRON. — THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 

Remarks of Dr. Paley on the Scriptures — Their pertinency — Tested by the Trav- 
eller in Palestine— Departure from Bethlehem— Pools of Solomon— Lunch 
at Bethzur — Ancient tombs — View of Mediterranean — Valley of Eschol — 
Arrival at Hebron— Tomb of Abraham— Our view of the Valley — A night 
at Hebron. 

In reference to the sacred Scriptures of the Old 
and New Testament, Dr. Paley has finely remarked : 
" When we open these ancient volumes, we discover 
in them marks of truth, whether we consider each in 
itself, or collate them one with another. The writers 
certainly knew something of what they were writing 
about, for they manifest an acquaintance with local 
circumstances, with, the history and usages of the 
times, which could only belong to an inhabitant of 
that country, living in that age. In every narra- 
tive we perceive simplicity and unclesignedness ; 
the air and the language of reality/" 

The pertinency of these observations, every Bib- 
lical student who has travelled in Palestine will 
have constant occasion to observe. The incidental 
evidences of the credibility and faithfulness of the 
sacred historians is remarkable. The fact will often 



354 JOURNEY lu HEBROA, 

be most pleasingly brought to the notice of the trav- 
eller, who vrill collate, and carefully read the nar- 
rative portions of the Scriptures on the localities 
described. 

Much information illustrative of the historic and 
narrative portions of Scripture, is yet to be derived 
from the observations of those who visit Palestine, 
and other parts connected vtith Biblical history. A 
kno a ±z d_. cf L^ie p ^^-c-o. _ .j. -mt<nm of ine c j iiiu^ 

TTho that has ever stool on that rocky eminence. 
Mars Hill." and there read the seventeenth chanter 

7 IT 

of Acts, vtith those very "temples made vtith 
hands" before him. to which reference is made, but 
has felt, that never before had he adequately ap- 
preciated the power of Paul's eloquent address to 
his Athenian audience? 

It is not an easy task adequately to portray the 
impressions that crowd upon the mind of the trav- 
eller as he visits such places as Carmel. whence the 
servant of Elijah 11 looked toward the sea," and be- 
held the cloud rising, "like a man's hand/ 9 from 
the spreading circle of which, torrents of rain soon 
deluged the plain over vtitirh Ahab's chariot sped, 
while " Elijah girded up his loins and ran before 
him to the entrance of Jezreel :" the Well of Jacob. 



THE CAVE OF M A C IIP KLA If. 



355 



at which was held that wonderful conversation 
with the woman of Samaria ; or the " Wilderness of 
Judea," whence were heard the first notes of the 
harbinger of Messiah ! 

It was not until we had slept in the vale of 
Mamre, and rose " up early in the morning" to con- 
template the scene, that we appreciated the reason 
why " Abraham gat up early in the morning to the 
place where he stood before the Lord,' 1 and there 
beheld the evidences of that ruin which had over- 
whelmed the cities of the plain. In each of these, 
and numerous other instances, if I mistake not, a 
knowledge of local relations adds peculiar interest 
to the related incidents. 

We rose at a very early hour on the morning of 
the twenty-eighth of January, to prepare for our 
departure from Bethlehem. Owing to the charac- 
teristic tardiness of our muleteers, it was eight 
o'clock when we were all ready to leave the Con- 
vent and begin our journey to Hebron. The sun 
shone brightly, but the night had been cold, so that 
ice had been formed, and much of the snow that 
had fallen in the recent storm still remained upon 
the ground. With no facilities for warming their 
dwellings, and no wood for fuel if they had, it is a 
mercy that in Palestine, they have but little weather 
when the thermometer falls below freezing point. 
As we saw the villagers walking around on the * 



356 



JOURNEY TO HEBRO N , 



snow with bare feet, or at best, with low slippers 
that hardly protected the foot from contact with the 
snow and ice. we thought they must be ready feel- 
ingly to say with the Psalmist, u VTho can stand 
before his cold!" The village was made cheerful 
by multitudes of all ages, on the flat roofs of their 
houses, engaged in the amusement, which they 
probably do not often enjoy, of snow-balling. 
At a few minutes before ten o'clock, we reached 
the " Pools of Solomon." Here are three large 
reservoirs, supposed to be those referred to in Ec- 
clesiastes, 2: 6. "I made me pools of water, to 
water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees." 
They were in part supplied by a sunken fountain 
north-west of them, at a short distance. 

They are situated at the head of a narrow valley. 
The upper or north-western reservoir is entirely 
artificial in its construction. As measured by Dr. 
Eobinson, (and we did not think it worth while to 
take a cane of uncertain length, as did a worthy 
English Peer, now no more, to test the accuracy of 
Ms account,) the upper pool is three hundred and 
eighty feet long, about two hundred and thirty feet 
wide, and averaging from fifteen to twenty-five feet 
deep. The middle pool is one hundred and sixty 
feet distant from the upper or northern reservoir. 
It is four hundred ; nd twenty-three feet long. In 
width it varies between two hundred and fifty feet 



THE CAVE OF M A C HPELAH. 



at its eastern end, and one hundred and fifty feet at 
the western end, and fourteen to forty feet deep. 
The lower pool is five hundred and eighty-two feet 
long, two hundred and seven feet wide at its eastern 
end, and one hundred and forty-eight at its western 
end, and fifty feet deep at the eastern end. 

The two last-named reservoirs are formed in the 
narrow valley by strong walls of mason- work at the 
ends of each. There is a large Saracenic fortress or 
khan, immediately north of the upper pool, which 
we did not stop particularly to examine. The 
country between Bethlehem and these pools is ex- 
ceeding rocky, some of the hills appearing mere 
masses of broken stones. 

Prosecuting our journey over a pathway naturally 
bad enough, but now made more difficult by frequent 
drifts of snow, at 12 o'clock, M., we had come to a 
district where the hills assumed a more gentle for- 
mation, and were covered to a considerable extent 
with small scrub oak. At this point we passed the 
ruins of a town, near which there was an olive 
orchard of some extent. In half an hour more we 
had ruined towers upon a hill on our right. 

At two o'clock, P. M., we rested, and ate our 
lunch at a small fountain on the site of a former 
town, Bethzur or Durwih. Here we noticed quite 
a number of tombs excavated in the rock. They 
were obviously of early Jewish origin. In half an 



358 



JOURNEY TO HEBRON , 



hour we resumed our journey. The snow covered 
much of the ground with increased depth, and our 
pathway was bad in the extreme. There never 
could have been a carriage track over the region 
between Bethlehem and Hebron. 

At half-past three o'clock, we gained an elevation 
where we had the Mediterranean in view on our 
right, in the north-west. TVe had now approached 
within about four miles of Hebron. This whole 
region is very elevated, being nearly three thousand 
feet above the Mediterranean. 

At a few minutes before four o'clock we reached 
and followed down a valley, the sides of which 
were covered with extensive vineyards. This valley 
extends south and south-east. A small stream was 
running through its bottom, which forms the path- 
way or road to Hebron. On each side of the road 
are high stone walls to protect the vineyards, which 
extend, I judged, at least a mile and a half, and to 
within half a mile of the Hebron, where the valley 
runs in a more south-easterly direction. These 
vineyards are of great antiquity, and may well be 
supposed to occupy the spot where the spies, sent 
out by Moses, came, in their search of the land — the 
valley or brook Eschol, whence they procured the 
rich cluster of grapes, which gave assurance to the 
tribes of a land before them flowing with " milk and 
honey." Num. 13: 23, 24, There are numerous 



THE CAVE OF M A C II P E L A H . 



359 



small watch-towers in these vineyards, occupied in 
the month of vintage., Matt. 21 1 88. 

It was nearly five o'clock, P. M., when we entered 
Hebron, a place venerable in its antiquity, and pe- 
culiarly endeared as the dwelling-place of Abraham, 
the father of the faithful. Here we have reason to 
believe his tomb has remained reverenced and un- 
disturbed amid the vicissitudes of forty centuries — 
that very cave of Machpelah, which Abraham 
bought, with the field, of Ephron the Hittite, for a 
possession of a burying-place. " There," says the 
dying Jacob, "they buried Abraham, and Sarah 
his wife ; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his 
wife ; and there I buried Leah." Gen. 49 : 30, 31. 

• We are gratified that it is in our power to pre- 
sent to the eye of our readers a beautiful and accu- 
rate view of the vale of Mamre, and the scenery 
contiguous, exhibiting a large part of the present 
village of Hebron. Conspicuously on the view is 
seen the sacred enclosure of the tomb of Abraham 
and the other Patriarchs, now appropriated as a 
Moslem Most. This view has been copied from 
Bartlett's very accurate sketches, and engraved ex 
pressly to illustrate our pages. The stand point, 
from which the view is taken, is on the high ground 
north-west of the town, which is seen looking in a 
south-easterly direction. The mountains of Moab, 
east of the Dead Sea, are shown in the distance. 



360 



JOURNEY TO HEBRON , 



Our dragoman had preceded us, and secured 
quarters in the house of an intelligent Jew, residing 
in the western part of the town, not far distant from 
its entrance. Our host held the office of scribe at 
the Lazaretto. All travellers arriving from Mount 
Sinai have here to pass their quarantine. The top 
of our house afforded a good view of a part of the 
valley of Mamre, and of the town. We made no 
explorations on the evening of our arrival; we 
rose, however, at an early hour the ensuing morn- 
ing to view the scene, and then prosecute our 
journey. 

The most memorable event in the history of 
Hebron, was that recorded in the eighteenth of 
Genesis. In the commencement of our chapter we. 
have referred to the impression which we here re- 
ceived, as we read this narrative recorded by Moses, 
and its context in the subsequent chapter, particu- 
larly when we came to the incidental statement that 
•'Abraham gat up early in the morning to the 
place where he stood before the Lord." Gen. 
19: 27. 

We only need point our reader to the beautiful 
view before him, to see that it was quite neces- 
" sary for Abraham to repair to the top of one of the 
high ridges on the east of the valley, ere he could 
" look toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward 
all the land of the plain." We left our quarters 



THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 361 

at eight o'clock, A. M., and rocle through the 
town and its covered bazars, to the great Mosk, 
— the tombs of the Patriarchs, now venerated b}^ 
the Mohammedans as one of their most sacred 
places. We entertain very little doubt that the ex- 
terior walls of this enclosure were the work of David 
or Solomon. It has been well described as having 
the appearance of a large and lofty building, in the 
form of a parallelogram, two hundred feet long, 
by one hundred and fifty feet in breadth. The 
walls are from fifty to sixty feet high, built of large 
stones, all beveled and hewn smooth, and similar 
in all respects to the most ancient parts of the wall 
around the temple area on Mount Moriah. No 
Christian can enter this sacred enclosure, but at 
the certain peril of his life. It has been described 
as having within it distinct tombs, richly adorned, 
of the Patriarchs and their wives. We hope the 
day is not distant when the arm of the Moslem's 
power shall be broken, and the true children of 
Abraham gain an unobstructed entrance to these 
venerable relics of a far-distant age. 

We hardly need remark, that the minarets and 
turreting, as well as the battlements at the top 
of the wall, belong to the Mohammedan period. 
We regard this monument as the most ancient, as 

well as best authenticated, in Palestine. 

16 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 

Topography and seasons in Palestine — Their relation to Biblical exegesis — 
Philip at Samaria — His journey— Joins the Ethiopian Eunuch — The Eunuch 
baptized— Manner of its performance considered— A night on the Plain— 
Wady Sim Sim — Dr. Robinson at Wady El Hasy— Climate and seasons 
unchanged. 

That the topography and the seasons of Palestine 
are interesting topics for consideration, in their re- 
lation to Biblical exegesis, will not be doubted by 
him who ingenuously searches for truth. We have, 
however, affecting and abounding proof that such 
is the infirmity of men, and even good men, that, 
when once complacently settled on the assumptions 
of infallibility of some favorite isin, all the analogies 
of nature and providence which confront a dogma 
of sectarianism, have no power to disturb or con- 
vince those who, d priori, have resolved not to be 
convinced or disturbed. 

We have a thorough conviction that the topog- 
raphy and seasons of Palestine, in their relation to 
the controverted topic of Christian Baptism, have 
not been adequately appreciated ; and we are well 
persuaded that here is an ample field for abler hands. 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 363 

We have trod over the scenes where John the Bap- 
tist heralded the Messiah, and baptized his disciples ; 
to the consideration of which we have asked the at- 
tention of our readers in a previous chapter. We 
have contemplated this subject with deep interest, 
in the streets and by the pools and fountains of Je- 
rusalem, where, on the day of Pentecost, three thou- 
sand were baptized on one day by the apostles ; we 
have stood on " the hill Samaria," where, upon the 
persecution that scattered the disciples abroad, Philip 
remained and preached Jesus. We purpose now to 
ask the attention of our readers to a consideration 
of the interesting incident indicated — Philip and the 
Eunuch — and shall attempt to follow the Evangelist 
in the mission to which he is divinely directed. 
" And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip say- 
ing, Arise and go toward the south, unto the way 
that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is 
desert." The journey here indicated, would occupy 
three or four days ; and we may follow him in its 
progress, in our imagination. No doubt the thrill- 
ing incidents of the last few weeks, occupy much 
of his thoughts' — the martyrdom of Stephen — the 
manner in which the "scattering abroad" of the dis- 
ciples under recent persecutions, had been overruled 
to advance the cause of Messiah, especially the suc- 
cess attendant on his own recent labors among the 
Samaritans. In view of which he recollects those 



364 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 



intimations of mercy in ancient prophecy: "How 
shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? How shall I deliver 
thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? 
How shall I set thee as Zeboim ? My heart is turned 
within me, my repentings are kindled together." 
As he ponders, his bosom swells with hope for the 
future, for he has heard the response: "Ephraim 
shall say, "What have I to do anymore with idols?" 
J er. 31 : 18, 21. Perhaps his thoughts linger on 
promises of a wider scope, such as that in Ps. 68 : 31, 
"Princes shall come out of Egypt — Ethiopia shall 
soon stretch out her hands unto Grod." As he pro- 
ceeds, his attention is arrested by the distant chariot 
of a stranger. Now he has a heavenly intimation 
of the object of his mission — " Go join thyself to 
this chariot." He preaches Jesus unto the inquiring 
proselyte of the gate, acquaints him with his offices 
and character: "Wounded for our transgressions, 
bruised for our iniquities — brought as a lamb to the 
slaughter" — the Lamb of Grod thus taking away 
the sin of the world — explains to him the doctrines, 
as well as external symbols of the Gospel, and as 
they "went on their way," the believing Eunuch 
exclaims: "See, here is water; what doth hinder 
me to be baptized?" 

Let us now take a glance at the region of country 
in which this interesting incident occurred, and 
judge oi the weight of evidence it may afford in 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 



305 



regard to the manner in which this rite was admin- 
istered by Philip. 

It was after a detention of four days in the Latin 
convent at Bethlehem, by a severe storm, to which 
we have referred in a previous chapter, and which 
terminated in snow of considerable depth on the 
mountains of Judea, that we proceeded to Hebron ; 
and the following day, retracing our steps a small 
part of the distance, we dropped down a steep Wady 
into the Philistine plain, and from a wintry climate, 
in three or four hours found one, if not tropical, as 
mild as our May or June weather. 

We were now nearly or quite in "the way that 
goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza." We passed 
Beit Jibrin, or Eleutheropolis, on our left, at three 
o'clock, P. M., and found ourselves in a region of 
comparative fertility as well as warmth. The mode 
of cultivation is still primitive, and exceedingly rude, 
with no attempts to enrich the soil by manuring ; 
yet here, as elsewhere on the plain, we had evidence 
of its fruitfulness, after the lapse of four thousand 
years of cultivation. From these wide plains, the 
country, in the days of regal splendor, must have 
derived a large portion of the means of subsist- 
ence. 

We directed our course over the now gently roll- 
ing prairie land, to a miserable flat-roofed Arab 
village, called Zatta, situated on a mound, appar- 



*66 PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH, 

entry much, of it the accumulated filth of ages. It 
would seem probable that this may have been the 
Jattir of Joshua, 21 : 14. Here we took up our 
quarters for the night ; and as there were strong in- 
dications of rain, rather than trust our tents, we 
selected the best room the village afforded, in which 
to take shelter. This was the granary of the Sheikh 
of the village — a rudely-constructed, low, dome- 
roofed stone building, measuring ten feet square; 
in this we had to contrive to arrange our five cot 
bedsteads, for our party of three ladies and two gen- 
tlemen. But here Arab hospitality interposed — a 
small and filthy yard separated the granary from the 
palace, and the wife of the Sheikh kindly invited us 
gentlemen to take up our quarters in the apartments 
of the Prince. 

Judging from external appearances, we thought 
proper to decline the kind invitation. Soon the 
curtains of night gathered around — our beds and 
baggage adjusted — the luxurious dinner disposed of, 
which Abdal, with his usual expertness, had pro- 
vided — the eager curiosity of the villagers gratified, 
in seeing us infidels eat around a table, and with 
knives and forks ; and they dispersed to their miser- 
able hovels. It occurred to us that now it might 
be well, just to take a look into the quarters of our 
host, whose apartment, though more rude, was 
somewhat larger than our own. 



PHILIP A N D THE EU N UCH. 



307 



A small brush-wood fire was kindled on a slight 
elevation, and the family circle were seated on the 
ground around it. The bright blaze lighted the 
countenances of the inmates, and we were tempted 
to count them. Three men, two women, and divers 
children composed the bipeds ; the placid face of a 
crouched camel, ruminating his cud close to the 
blaze, was among the most thoughtful objects of the 
scene. The dogs and fleas had adjusted themselves 
to their liking, and the background was graced with 
the presence of three cows and a calf. Thus pro- 
vided, the parties soon laid themselves down on the 
ground floor for the night. Xo necessity for un- 
dressing exists, or is thought of. Such is Arab life ; 
such the incidents of travel. But to return from 
this long episode. At an early hour on the follow- 
ing morning we proceeded on our journey over the 
Philistine plain. Take the best authenticated map 
of this region, and with the exception of two or 
three mill-streams that flow to the Mediterranean 
from the hills of Samaria, you will find no stream 
of any magnitude in the whole extent of country 
from Carmel to "the Eiver of Egypt." This latter, 
like most others laid down as rivers on our maps, is 
but a dry Wady, except immediately subsequent 
to violent rains, and it would be a severe task 
for the advocates of baptism by immersion, to 
tell where, in all this region, they can find a living 



568 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 



stream, or any other body of water suited to their 
purpose. 

The Wady Sim Sim, and others tributary to it, is 
now, and has no doubt ever been, the only drainage 
of a large extent of this part of the Philistine plain, 
as the Wady Sheriah is of the region south of 
Gaza. This particular region is regarded as that 
indicated by Luke, in the case in question ; and it 
is quite as favorable for the advocates of immersion 
as any part of the plain ; moreover, it has a special 
advantage, to which I shall now refer. 

Our excellent friends, Drs. Eobinson and Smith, 
were at Tell el Hasey late in the month of May, 
1838, and Dr. Eobinson, in a note, appended to 
Vol. II. of his accurate and invaluable "Besearches," 
designed to illustrate the incident under considera- 
tion, speaks of seeing water then in the adjacent 
"Wady. This casual note has been quoted to me, 
and no doubt to others, " as proof, strong as sacred 
writ," even that of Luke himself, to confirm the as- 
sumptions of our Baptist Brethren. And I have 
no doubt both are cited with equal propriety. 

This Wady el Hasey, referred to by Dr. Eobin- 
son, empties into the Wady Sim Sim, some eight 
or ten miles westward of the place referred to by 
him. Now, it was on the thirtieth day of January, 
in the midst of the rainy season, and shortly after 
the severe storm before referred to, that, proceeding 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 



369 



on our way to Gaza, we travelled for a considerable 
distance along the deep and dry bed of the Wady 
Sim Sim, and crossed it at a point some miles below 
the junction of the Wad}' el Hasey. And I have 
the best authority for believing, and saying, that 
the water referred to in Dr. Kobinson's note, was 
but a shallow sheet of water standing in the other- 
wise (at the time) dry bed of the Wady el Hasey, 
and it was not noticed in any respect to ratify the 
dogma, for which it has been so confidently cited. 

I have noticed similar small and shallow sheets 
of water, clear and exceedingly salt, standing, even 
in the desert, on a hard clay-pan bottom, subse- 
quent to a rain, and which would remain until ex- 
hausted by evaporation. After a severe rain storm 
of two or three days, our party left Gaza on our 
way to Egypt. In about an hour we reached the 
"Wady Sheriah," then quite a stream of shallow 
and exceedingly muddy water rushing down its 
bed ; but from personal observation, and the infor- 
mation of others at the time, I have reason to be- 
lieve we should have found an almost, if not en- 
tirely dry bed, had we crossed it one or two days 
later. 

Let it be remembered, too, that it is only in the 
rainy season that these wadies have any water in 
them, and for a large part of the year they are per- 
fectly dry. Much less water usually falls here, 

16* 



370 



PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 



even in the rainj^ season, than in the more northern 
parts of Palestine. Nor have we any ground 
for believing that, in this respect, there has been 
any material change in the seasons, or the general 
aspect of the country, in the lapse of ages. 

It is mere assertion, without evidence, and against 
evidence, to say that any great physical vicissitudes 
have affected this region. If the length of this 
article did not forbid it, I think this could be easily 
made apparent. 

In view of these general features of the country, 
what other inference can an impartial mind draw, 
than that the baptism of the Eunuch by Philip was 
by the affusion or sprinkling of water ; and had Dr. 
Eobinson, when at Tell el Hasey, found a believing 
Ethiopian, they might both have well gone down to 
the water he saw, and he have baptized the convert 
and come up from its performance, quite prepared, 
without change of raiment, to proceed " on their 
way rejoicing" in the triumphs of divine grace. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



A SCENE ON THE DESEET ; OR, THE MUSIC OF THE 
SPHERES. 

Philistine plain— Arrival at Gaza— Dismissal of horse and muleteers— Sheikh 
engaged to conduct to Egypt — Gaza — Departure — Arrival at El Arisch— 
River of Egypt — Quarantine — Proceed on our journey— Scenes on the Desert. 

The villages on the Philistine plain are generally 
composed of mere mud hovels, closely compacted on 
some mound or swell of the undulating plain. The 
population in the aggregate must be numerous. 
They have many horned cattle, and some flocks of 
sheep and goats as well as camels. The camel is 
very often seen before the plow. 

We arrived at Gaza on the thirtieth day of Jan- 
uary. Here we dismissed our horses and muleteers, 
and engaged a Sheikh of one of the villages in the 
vicinity to furnish camels, and convey us over the 
desert to Cairo. 

The intervening of a violent rain storm, and de- 
lays incident to our preparations for the journey, 
detained us in Gaza four days. 

This ancient stronghold of the Philistines is situ- 
ated in lat. 31° 30' IST. It occupies a rounded ele- 
vation, some forty or fifty feet above the plain. 



372 



A SCENE OX THE DESERT; 



Tliere are mounds of debris in the immediate vi- 
cinity of tlie town. Here is a large Mian, and two 
or three Mosks, which, in other ages were, without 
doubt, .erected for Christian churches. From the 
minarets, the shrill voice of the Muezzin was heard 
almost over our heads, in the place we occupied, 
calling the unthinking Arab to arise and attend to 
his devotions, in language a part of which might 
well ring in the ears of those who profess the pure 
faith of the Gospel. " There is no God but God, 
and Mohanmied is the prophet of God." In the 
early morn he adds to the usual cry, "It is better 
to pray than to sleep." We looked around for the 
gates and pillars that Samson removed, but found 
nothing more nearly identifying them than one or 
two fine dark granite columns, which lay outside 
of the town. On the plain north of Gaza there is 
one of the finest Olive groves we have ever seen, 
and in its immediate vicinity there are evidences 
of much fertility. The desert, however, is partially 
developed around, and soon after leaving Gaza, in 
travelling south, you find yourself in a measure 
amid its wastes. There is more or less cultivation, 
from which a few villagers gain a scanty subsist- 
ence, extending a day's journey on the south. 

Our caravan, on leaving Gaza, consisted of fifteen 
camels, attended by six Arab mukris or camel 
drivers. In an hour and a half after leaving" Gaza 



OR, THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. 3*73 

we crossed the Wady Sheriah. Six hours from 
Gaza we encamped for the night, at a short distance 
beyond Khan Yunas, another traditional landing 
place of Jonah. As we rode through this consider- 
able village, we heard, what may often be done in 
passing an Arab town, " women grinding at the 
mill." Jer. 25 : 10. In our travels hitherto we had 
failed to witness this primitive process of grinding 
their grain. I therefore sent into the village to 
have some of their women come to our camp in the 
morning with their mill, and grind for us, with the 
promise of Bakhshish. As the wise man's proverb, 
" monev can do all things," never fails with the 
Arab, at early morn we were gratified by the ap- 
proach to our tents of the villagers with their mill 
stones. They consist of two circular stones, about 
two feet in diameter and six inches in thickness, 
the upper and nether mill stones, Job, 41 : 24. 
A piece of coarse cloth about three feet square is 
laid on the ground, on the centre of which the 
stones are placed. The nether or lower stone is 
convex on its upper surface, the other concave on 
its lower face to fit it, The upper stone has a 
hole through the centre, into which one of the 
women, as she sits by it, slowly drops the grain, 
while the other, seated opposite, turns around the 
top stone by means of a stick inverted in a hole 
near the outer edge of the stone. The meal drops 



374 



A SCENE N THE DESERT; 



from the edges of the stones on the cloth below. 
Matt, 24: 41- — Isaiah, 47 : 2. We took care to pre- 
serve a good sample of the meal thus ground for us. 

On the third day after our departure from Gaza, 
we reached El-Arisch, the ancient Einocolura. 
This was a place of exile for respited malefactors 
in the time of the Pharaohs, who had their noses 
cut off as a commutation punishment with banish- 
ment, in place of the death penalty, from which cir- 
cumstance it had its name. Just before our arrival 
at El- Arisen, we crossed the bed of the dry "Wady 
of that name, designated on maps and referred to, 
Gen. 15 : 18, as " the River of Egypt." 

Here we were required to perform in our own 
tents a quarantine of five days, before taking our 
departure for Egypt, when we resumed our journey. 

It was a bright morning, the fourteenth of Feb- 
ruary, and we rose long before the sun, hoping to 
start our caravan at an early hour. Haste, how- 
ever, is not a word in the Arab's vocabulary, or if 
it is, he never acts under its influence. " He takes 
no note of time:" and whether your journey be ac- 
complished in two weeks or four, is all the same to 
him. 

By dint of effort and some resolute complaints, 
our baggage camels were loaded, and a little before 
eight o'clock, ours were mounted, and we were 
again rocking on these " ships of the desert/' 



OR, THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. 37 j 

The day proved very fine, the monotony of the 
desert was relieved by the sight of several small 
groves of the date-bearing palm, situated in deep 
depressions, that receive the drainage of the sur- 
rounding sands. 

At eleven o'clock, A. M., we had reached Katieh, 
a place where there is a well of brackish water, 
which can be drank in cases of extremity. 

Our camels had been three or four days without 
water, jet they exhibited no signs of thirst, and 
drank very sparingly at the well. In the palmy 
days of Mohammed Ali, he had here erected exten- 
sive troughs for watering caravans. The well, 
which probably has a very early date, is now par- 
tially rilled up, and everything around is going to 
decay. A few wandering Arabs find a scanty sub- 
sistence in this region ; their women, dressed in a 
dark blue cotton frock, and shawl or scarf of the 
same material over their heads — the attire of the 
Arab women of the desert — had preceded us at the 
well, and were leaving with their heavy jars upon 
their heads. 

Our course now lay over a most desolate region 
of shifting sands ; the leafless shrub that had gener- 
ally, here and there, relieved the utter nakedness of 
the desert, in past days, now almost entirely disap- 
peared. As the sun declined we found it difficult 
to select a place for encampment where we could 



376 A SCENE ON THE DESERT *, 

safely pitch our tents, secure from the danger of 
being blown down, from the want of solid earth or 
sand on which to drive our tent pegs. At a late 
hour we gathered up, under the lee of a high sand 
hill. 

Our camels crouched, and were speedily relieved 
of their loads, and as usual quickly dispersed, to 
browse on the shrubs that might be found, but soon 
returned from the fruitless search, to the encamp- 
ment. 

The forethought of our Arabs had led them, early 
in the afternoon, to secure some light shrubs and 
roots for their camp fire, with which to bake their 
unleavened cake for their evening meal. 

The darkness of night had gathered around us 
before Abdal, our worthy Nubian cook, had served 
his soup, and we partaken of our dinner. On rising 
from our table, we found the stars shining with all 
the brightness of an eastern sky. An equilibrium 
had come in the atmosphere, and everything favor- 
ed an experiment we had been anxious to make. 

A scientific traveller had intimated a remarkable 
phenomenon — the noise produced by the circulation 
of the blood, realized no where but on the desert, 
an din circumstances which we were now able to test. 

A physician of distinction and intelligence com- 
posed one of our party, and at his suggestion we 
retired from our encampment. The scene behind 



OR, X H K M D SIC OF THE SPHERES. 



377 



us was full of interest, and such as we had often 
before enjoyed — a distant night- view of our encamp- 
ment. Our lighted tents, our crouched camels 
around, their legs folded beneath them, and more 
than all, the circle of seated, or reclining Arabs — 
their visages lit up, as they were spread around 
their camp fire, and partook of their simple repast. 
What a sketch for a painter's skill ? would that I 
had it vividly portrayed with a master's pencil ! 

But to return : leaving our camp in the distance, 
quite out of reach of the least ruffle of sound, or 
jar upon the now hushed atmosphere — overwhelm- 
ing, awful stillness. 

We looked out upon the same glorious constel- 
lations that were pressed upon the attention of Job 
of old, when the Lord would make him feel his im- 
potence and insignificance, no less than his guilt as 
a sinner : " Can'st thou bind up the swept influence 
of Pleiades ? or loose the bands of Orion ?" 

"The seven daughters of Atlas" led the gorgeous 
train ; Orion's giant form was full above us. 

" His golden girdle glittered in our sight,"' 

and Sirius poured forth his unrivalled beams, with 
their ever-burning splendor. The elements were 
all hushed to silence ; not a jar to interrupt 

" The Music of the Spheres ;" and the bright 
orbs moved on in glorious harmony : 



SIS 



X SCENE IN THE DESERT* 



u Forever singing as they shine 
The hand that made us is divine." 

But arrived at our farthest destination, — " Now 
hush, hush one and all" — every breath suppressed 
my glorious Creator, how wonderful ? 

" Heaven, earth and sea, and fire and air, 
Proclaim thy wondrous skill, 
But I survey myself and find, 
Diviner wonders still." 

What mortal can long endure the sensations now 
realized ! The rushing blood that sweeps through 
my veins, especially through the head, has waked 
up a sound within me, like the rushing of many 
waters ! — a minute's endurance, and each exclaims, 
" How wonderful." 

With a delight that can well be imagined, we 
slowly returned to our tents ; the phenomenon, 
hardly believed, had been realized most satis- 
factorily. 

Who shall say that any part of creation is void 
of interest ? We found much every day to excite 
attention, and repay the toils of the Desert. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 

We had traversed that region of the desert which 
constitutes the dividing line of the two continents. 
Imperceptibly we had stepped out of Asia, and were 
fairly upon African soil. On this desolate waste 
we had listened in the hushed stillness of night to 
"the music of the spheres.'' or rather to that more 
wonderful phenomenon, the rush of life's vital fluid 
through its circuitous channels. In this we remain 
conscious of no illusion, incredible as the announce- 
ment may have appeared. 

We were soon, however, to experience one of the 
most remarkable illusions of nature, the mirage of 
the desert, — an illusion so perfect as to have often 
conveyed disappointment and dismay to the wan- 
dering and famished traveller, who, when suffering 
under the maddening influence of a burning thirst, 
thinks, at last, he has espied a lake of exhaustless 
plenty to slake his consuming desire. Fallacious 
hope ! How soon to be dissipated, again to be tan- 
talized with new visions of beauty and abundance, 
almost within bis reach— fit illustration of that 



380 THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 

ideal bliss which, glares along on the devious path- 
way of the bewildered votaries of pleasure, but 
whose anticipated joys so often fade from their grasp 
in the moment of their embrace. 

There are two distinctive characteristics of the 
desert, — the one, sandy and more or less shifting on 
its surface ; the other, a hard pan, and besprinkled 
with pebbles. As far as my observation has ex- 
tended, it is only on the hard and pebbly desert that 
this optical illusion, mirage, has been experienced ; 
nor is it ever seen when the sun is obscured. On 
various occasions I have watched the phenomenon 
with no little interest, with a view to account for it 
satisfactorily. It is ascribed to a refraction of the 
atmosphere. I have observed that in some positions 
from the sun's rays, there appeared a kind of mys- 
terious and flitting mist, rising to the height of two 
to four feet from the ground, and moving with great 
rapidity over the surface. The trees which appear 
on the ideal landscape are the small shrubs of the 
desert. 

At two o'clock, P. M., of our tenth day, we had 
reached a more level and comparatively hard sur- 
face in the vicinity of Aba Euk, where we met oc- 
casional sand hillocks with bushes upon them ; the 
waters of Lake Menzaleh could be seen in the dis- 
tance. For the last two days, we had hardly seen 
a living thing beyond our caravan, except two or 



THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 381 

three crows, and one other small and lonely bird ; 
nor had we, as on previous days, been able to pro- 
cure flowers for our collections. This afternoon we 
were cheered with the sight of an approaching cara- 
van, and steered our course over the pathless waste 
so as to speak the voyagers on this desert ocean. 
We found it to be the retinue of three English gen- 
tlemen bound from Cairo to Palestine. The pleasure 
of meeting a caravan is quite kindred to that of 
speaking a ship on the wide ocean, and that pleasure 
is heightened when you are greeted in your own 
vernacular. "We had been more than two months 
without European intelligence, and as we passed, 
our inquiries respecting the busy world in the West 
were eagerly propounded. Before sunset we selected 
a place for encampment for the night, and the fol- 
lowing morning, rising early, at eight o'clock, A. M., 
we left our camp ground and proceeded on our way. 
We were now on the confines of " the land of 
Goshen," and the aspect of the desert was changing. 
In much of our route hitherto the desert had been 
chiefly composed of shifting sands, with a surface 
not unlike the surges of the ocean, now r level, now 
swelling, and then in more abrupt ridges. At 
twelve o'clock, M., we reached a well of water, used 
by the Arabs. There we rested a few minutes and 
lunched. 

On this spot there were a number of low palm 



382 



THE MIRAGE OF THE DESERT. 



trees, a sure indication of water. We had before us 
a comparatively level region of dark hard pan, cov- 
ered more or less thickly with pebbles, small and 
broken silicous stones, and bits of scoria. I took 
care to procure a good sample of the heterogeneous 
mass, which I now have in my cabinet. A portion 
of this region may have been anciently brought 
under processes of irrigation and culture by means 
of wells, and we were not very distant from the 
waters of the ancient canal which once connected 
the Nile with the Eed Sea at Suez. That early 
work is attributed to Sesostris. It not improbably 
existed in the time of the Exodus. It was in this 
vicinity that Joseph met his father Jacob, as the 
latter went down to sojourn in Egypt. 

"And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went 
up to meet Israel his father to Goshen, and pre- 
sented himself unto him ; and he fell on his neck, 
and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel 
said unto Joseph, ISTow let me die, since I have seen 
thy face, because thou art yet alive." A touching 
example of paternal and filial love, in primitive and 
patriarchal days. 

But to return to my narrative : soon after being 
again adjusted on our camels, — whose backs have 
one good property at least, as they afford a fine 
place for observation, if no other comfortable qual- 
ity attaches to the position — to our joy, we espied, 



f II E MIRAGE OF THE DESfiKT. 



383 



as we conceived, a beautiful and extensive sheet of 
water, interspersed and lined with trees. To us ? 
who had for ten days been looking out on a desert, 
the scene was quite exciting. Under the bright 
rays of the sun our water had a glare on it like a 
molten sea. Our discovery was quickly announced 
to our dragoman, who, to our no little vexation for 
his stupidity, denied that there was any water there. 
To convince him of his ignorance, our maps were 
quickly drawn forth, and he was assured that we 
were correct and no mistake ! But in the midst of 
our discussion, as we proceeded, to our astonish- 
ment, the vision of beauty had vanished from our 
gaze. Other scenes were presented for our admira- 
tion, and we awoke to the consciousness that we 
had before us that wonderful optical illusion the 
Mirage of the Desert, 



CHAPTER XL- 



dates THE " WILD HONEY" OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.* 

In the prosecution of a general itinerancy through 
that land of peculiar and sacred relations, Palestine, 
the traveller often finds himself amid scenes of 
thrilling interest. Among the many incidents of 
this character, which occurred in an excursion from 
Jerusalem to Jericho and the Jordan, the mission 
of John the Baptist, as well as the food which sus- 
tained, him, came prominently before our minds 
for consideration ; and y v r e have noted down some 
impressions on these subjects, which were suggested 
by our personal observation of that interesting lo- 
cality of his advent as the harbinger of the Messiah. 

We shall crave the indulgence of the reader 
while we attempt to present these impressions 
to his consideration ; entering here our humble 
caveat, that, as ours is the sphere of the layman, 

* This chapter was originally prepared for " The Presbyterian 
Quarterly Review/' and published in No. III. Vol. I. December, 
1852. The reader will find some repetition of what is contained 
in previous chapters, as I have thought it desirable to present the 
article entire in its original form. 



"WILD HONEY' 1 OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 385 

we must not be held responsible for nice classic or 
theological accuracies in presenting our statements. 

Our simple aim is to elicit truth ; our special ob- 
ject to prove that the "wild honey," which, with 
locusts, was the food of the Baptist, is to be found 
in the fruit of the palm tree — Dates. 

The character of John, and that of his mission, 
were alike remarkable ; himself the subject of 
prophecy in the unique office he was destined to 
fill, as at once the herald to prepare the way, 
and a witness to testify to the Jewish people the 
appearance of their long-expected Messiah. The 
garb he wore, and the food he ate, have each, and 
often, been a theme for discussion, while the facts 
in the premises have been imperfectly understood. 
The theatre, too, on which he is introduced to our 
notice, the wilderness of Judea, no less than the 
personage himself and the office he sustains, may 
well excite our interest and deserve our special at- 
tention. 

We read the Bible as we read other history, with 
American and not Oriental eyes ; and so the scenery 
we find there portrayed is often imperfectly appre- 
hended. This remark, we conceive, is specially ap- 
plicable to the wilderness in question. Apart from 
this, however, it has doubtless often appeared 
strange and inexplicable that a wilderness, and es- 
pecially such as that is found to be, should have 

17 



386 DATES THE "WILD HONEY" 

been selected by Infinite Wisdom for the accom- 
plishment of such designs of mercy ; and the sceptic 
might speciously ask questions in this relation to 
which every lover of revelation, and possibly some 
of its expounders, might not be prepared to give a 
satisfactory solution, and so " justify the ways of 
God to man." The same is equally true, also, in 
regard to the food indicated in the account of the 
Evangelist. 

It is to the Christian a cheering consideration 
that new proofs of the inspired authority and ac- 
curacy of the sacred Scriptures are constantly de- 
veloped. What seemed contradictory has been 
found harmonious ; what seemed unreasonable and 
incredible to the infidel objector, has been shown to 
be founded on reasons the most satisfactory and 
conclusive. All the research of the traveller, and 
all the investigations of science, we feel assured, are 
yet to be made tributary to the honor of the sacred 
page. We have travelled over the scenes of Scrip- 
ture record in Palestine, with the Bible open, and 
this conviction was deeply impressed upon us as 
the result. 

Much information illustrative of the historic and 
narrative portions of the Bible, is yet to be derived 
from a more accurate acquaintance with the topog- 
raphy of Palestine and other parts of the Orient 
connected with Biblical history. Our countryman, 



OF JOHN THE B A P T I S T 



387 



Dr. Kobinson, lias done mucli in this field of inves- 
tigation, and we may hope that his recent sojourn 
there will be productive of rich results. A knowl- 
edge of the physical structure of the country in 
general, or of particular localities, when well under- 
stood, will often shed new interest and delight on 
the pursuits of the Scripture student. We believe 
the theatre of John's first ''preaching" — the wilder- 
ness of Judea — no less than the food which there 
and elsewhere sustained him, are topics which have 
needed just the kind of elucidation to which we 
refer. 

We will not detain the reader, nor linger long in 
an attempt to portray the thrilling sensations or the 
eager gaze of the pilgrim in Palestine, as he visits 
the numerous places of unequaled interest there 
found. Arrived within the precincts of the sacred 
city, he will quickly be attracted to the sides and 
summits of Olivet, that triple-topped mount so often 
pressed by the footsteps of "the man of sorrows" as 
he went forth on errands of merc} r . When he has 
reached that interesting point of observation, the 
summit of its central elevation, he will be twenty- 
five hundred feet above the Mediterranean, and four 
thousand above the adjacent Jordan- valley and Dead 
Sea. Directing his eye eastward, he will see the 
high table-land or mountains of Moab, Amnion, and 
Gilead, on the east side of the valley of the Jordan. 



388 DATES THE " WILD HON Et" 

They are more than thirty miles in the distance, but 
seen through the clear ether of an eastern sky they 
hardly appear ten. 

In the deep recesses of the valley a narrow strip 
of vegetation marks the devious path of the Jordan. 
But between these distant and interesting scenes 
and the mount, the visitor will behold an extensive 
region of high, steep and naked hills stretching 
along on the western side of the Jordan-valley 
and the Dead Sea, presenting one wide field of 
barrenness. 

This drear and desolate region is " the wilderness 
of Judea," a region still in perfect keeping with the 
poetic description of David in the sixty -third Psalm; 
" a dry and thirsty land where no water is" We 
might here also cite from Josephus, who gives a 
like description of it as it appeared in his day. In 
fact, these lofty peaks bear conclusive evidence that 
they have ever presented the same sterile aspect. 
Not a solitary village occupies their summits or 
slopes, no verdant forest or field clothes their sides. 
No cool perennial stream refreshes those deep val- 
leys and gorges. When we performed our journey 
from Jerusalem "down to Jericho," our path lay 
directly over this wide waste ; nor did we find it 
any the more inviting on a nearer approach. Had 
we traversed it unprotected we should, in all human 
probability, have realized another peculiarity of its 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 389 

ancient character. Like him in the parable of the 
Good Samaritan of old, we should have " fallen 
among thieves." 

As we passed along the deep gorges and over the 
rough ridges and crooked pathways of this " high- 
way of the desert" trodden by more than a hundred 
generations of men, we needed to entertain little 
doubt as to what scenery the " evangelical prophet" 
had in his thoughts when the fortieth chapter of 
Isaiah was penned. The graphic scenery portrayed 
in these predictions finds here its illustration. On 
this great highway in the wilderness, we feel quite 
assured, we may locate iks pulpit of the Baptist ; and 
the more mature consideration of our first impress- 
ions has the more deeply confirmed them. 

We believe the true idea of John's public labors, 
here and elsewhere, is that he was emphatically a 
wayside or highway preacher. " He came neither 
eating bread nor drinking wine mingled not in 
the usual associations of men, but in the prosecution 
of his peculiar mission posted himself on the large 
and most frequented thoroughfares, and there made 
his announcements to the passing throngs ; by whom 
they would be quickly heralded far and wide through 
the land. We may well assume that John would 
charge them to the performance of a service so wel- 
come to the expectant nation. In the language of 
Isaiah, in the chapter just cited: u O thou that 



390 DATES THE "WILD HONEY" 

tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the 
high mountain ; thou that tellest good tidings to 
Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength ; lift it 
up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, 
Behold your God !" "We quote here the marginal 
rendering of Isa. 40 : 9. If we are correct in this 
view, it involves important suggestions on the inter- 
esting topic of John's baptism, especially its mode, 
Mark, 1:4; but as that theme is foreign to our 
present object, we may not pursue it. We feel 
warranted in the assumption, then, that it was on 
this remarkable spot, the ancient road or pathway 
from Jerusalem to Jericho, a place so perfectly ac- 
cordant with ancient prophesy respecting the " mes- 
senger" who was to prepare the way of " Messiah," 
that the Baptist commenced his public ministry. 
Did our space admit, we believe it might easily be 
demonstrated that it was the best position in the 
land to secure the ends designed. 

Properly eclaircised, we do not believe the sim- 
ple statements of the Evangelists in regard to the 
raiment or the food of John were designed to fling 
any mysterious veil around them, or over the minds 
of succeeding ages in regard to either. Laying- 
aside the flowing and ostentatious robes of the 
priesthood of his day, to which order by birthright 
he appertained, we find him clothed in the most 
simple and rustic attire ; and this we believe is all 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



391 



that the Evangelists intended to imply; and sus- 
tained on a diet equally simple, " locusts and wild 
honey." To this last named article of his diet, we 
will now invite the attention of the reader. 

To ascertain the true import of all Scripture state- 
ments is ever a most desirable object, especially in 
relations where erroneous views give room for the 
infidel to carp, or an occasion for the honest in- 
quirer to stumble. AVe hope in the sequel, to make 
reasonably apparent, what we believe to be true in 
fact, that the " wild honey" in question was simply 
new gathered dates, fresh from " the field ;" a whole- 
some, palatable and nutritious article of food ; the 
most convenient as well as easily procured ; needing 
no culinary art ; in fact, the best possible selection 
for a simple diet to supply the necessities of John 
in the peculiarities of his habits and his circum- 
stances ; so that the statements of the Evangelists, 
when understood, leave no room here for cavil or 
distrust. 

It seems not a little remarkable that the word 
pili) honey, does not occur in the Greek of the Xew 
Testament in more than four instances. We have 
in Matt. 3: 4, and in Mark, 1: 6, the uih &yqio* } 
"wild honey," now under consideration, and in 
Eev. 10 : 9-10, the simple form fiilt occurs. In 
Luke, 21 : 42, we have uehooiov y.t;oiov, honeycomb 
full of honey. We will here suggest an inquiry, 



392 



DATES THE "WILD HOXEY" 



which seems naturally to arise in this place. If 
bees' honer. or honey in the comb, was intended to 
be designated by Matthew and Mark as the food of 
the Baptist, whether it is not probable that they 
would have adopted one or both of these terms, 
rather than the one they have used ? 

In this state of the argument, without a precedent 
in Xew Testament usage, in order to arrive at a 
correct solution of the subject, we are under the ne- 
cessity of directing our inquiries to the collateral 
terms in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the Septua- 
gint version, and to the authority of Hebrew and 
Greek lexicographers. If we mistake not, an ex- 
amination of this kind will ascertain a, meaning at- 
taching to the original Hebrew terms translated 
"honey" in our version, which has generally been 
overlooked ; and we ask the indulgence of the 
reader while we refer to the several texts of this 
kind which we have carefully collated and exam- 
ined in the Hebrew, and compared in the Septua- 
gint. 

There are three words in the Hebrew Scriptures 
rendered honey, in our version, sqi Debash, Yaar\ 
and hba Xopetn. The form can Debash is almost uni- 
versally used, as we shall see, even when the other 
forms occur in connection. It seems to be a gen- 
eric term to indicate all sweets, especially of sticky 
substances. This definition has the authority of 



OF JOHN THE B A P T I S T . 



303 



Gesenius : " Debo.sh, honey, so called, as being 
glutinous, like a kneaded mass, Arabic Dibs, Mal- 
tese Dabsij yellow, that is honey-colored. 1. The 
honey of bees, &c. 2. Honey of grapes, syrup, the 
newly-expressed juice of grapes boiled down. 3. 
Joined with milk as the spontaneous productions 
of nature/' Robinson's Gesenius. Other lexicog- 
raphers say "to join together, to adhere, cement, 
or stick fast, as glutinous substances." 

We think there could be no better description of 
the sweetmeat or pressed date. With these defini- 
tions before us, we are prepared to pursue the in- 
vestigation, and examine the various texts in the 
Old Testament, where these terms occur. 

Gen. 43: 11, " honey.'' Here the form is simply 
-2- Debash, Sept. pili. It appears from the context 
that the luxuries of Jacob's table were not yet en- 
tirely exhausted ; for he directs his sons to present 
to the ruler of Egypt " of the best fruits of the land, 
a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, 
nuts and almonds." The articles here enumerated 
seem all to be the fruits or productions of trees. In 
reference to this text we find in Kitto, v. i. 3S1, the 
following remarks : " From the fact that Egypt pro- 
duced an abundance of honey, we may be led to 
suppose that the more valuable date-honey is here 
intended, which is rarely found in Egypt." The 
conclusion seems correct ; but the reasons assigned 

17* 



394 



DATES THE " W I LB HONEY 1 ' 



are doubtful, as the date has abounded in Egypt 
from the earliest periods, though the custom of pre- 
paring it as a sweetmeat may not have been intro- 
duced into Egypt at this early day. 

TVe introduce here a note on this text from Bag- 
ter's Comprehensive Bible : n Kfi Debash, honey, is 
supposed by Bochart and Celsius not to have been 
that produced by bees, but a sweet syrup produced 
from dates when in maturity. The Jewish (Talmu- 
dic) doctors observed that the word w\ II Chron. 
31 : 5, properly signifies dates ; and the Arabians 
now call the choicest dates, prepared with butter. 

Dabous, and the honey (syrup) obtained from 
them Bibs.' 1 I have been assured by a very in- 
telligent and reliable man, who is a native of Beth- 
lehem, and has travelled extensively in Palestine, 
that the Arabs call a preparation of butter and 
dates — Dabous, as here stated. He also says that 
any luscious preparation is by the Arab called Da- 
bous. Jacob sojourned probably in the southern 
part of the land. The date-palm was no doubt ex- 
tensively cultivated on the Philistine plain, the 
climate of which is very mild. We found consider- 
able numbers of them still existing in various places 
on this plain. 

Exodus, 3 : 8, ~" Debash, Sept. fiih. By the ex- 
pression " a land flowing with milk and honey," it 
is understood that general abundance is implied in 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



395 



the products of the land of promise. For reasons 
which will appear when we examine Numb. 16 : 
13, 14, it would seem that dates are here specially 
intended, as well as other sweets. 

Ex. 16 : 31. Debash, rrr, Sept. (tilt. The text 
simply expresses the fact that manna was agreeable 
in taste ; sweet, like honey. 

Lev. 2 : 11. ©ai Debasli, Sept. uih. It will be 
observed that honey is strictly forbidden to be used 
with any offerings to the Lord made by fire. 

Numb. 16 : 12, 13. tei Debash, Sept. idh. Here 
Dathan and Abiram allege that they had been 
brought out of " a land flowing with milk and 
honey." 

We were not in Egypt at the season that the date 
is produced. They ripen there in September and 
October ; but when at Malta we procured some good 
specimens of African dates as growing upon their 
stems, which are now in good preservation. The 
tree is an indigene, unisexual : and is said to bear 
ten or twelve bunches every year, each of which 
will weigh from ten to twenty-five pounds. They 
grow pendant from the tree at its top, and attached 
to the stem, as seeds to our broom-corn ; like other 
fruits they vary much in quality and size, growing 
from one to two inches long, round or oval in 
shape. As taken from the stems they are a good 
table fruit, and much in use, although comparatively 



396 



DATES THE " WILD HONEY" 



dry in taste ; when put in masses, they soon become 
more soft and honeyed in their color and taste. 
They are sugary, nourishing, very wholesome, and 
require no preparation. "When pressed, old, and 
passed through the stages of sweating, as they are 
always seen in this country, every one familiar 
with them knows their striking resemblance to old 
and candied honey in color and taste. The inhabi- 
tants of Egypt at the present day subsist on them 
to a great extent, and the whole country abounds 
with trees. We found them on our first reaching 
the waters of the ancient canal that connected the 
Nile with the Eed Sea at Suez, and on the Pelusium 
branch of the Nile, in " the land of Goshen." 

The margin of the desert is skirted with thick 
masses of the date-palm, where they seem to stand 
as a bulwark against the sands which threaten to 
overwhelm the narrow belt of vegetation and fer- 
tility. There, in ancient days, we have the best 
reason to believe, the Israelites were wont to see 
them, if in later stages of their " hard bondage" they 
were debarred from subsisting upon them. 

Deut. 6 : 3. Debash, Sept. <(£h. The same 
form as Ex. 3 : 8. 

Deut, 7: 7, 8. ^ Dehash, Sept. t*ih. u A land 
of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees and 
pomegranates ; a land of oil-olive (olive-tree of oil) 
and honey. Dates seem here specially intended. 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



397 



mm Debash, is here in the category of the fruits of 
trees. The order of style and laws of language 
seem to imply this. Moses spake these glowing 
words of encouragement to the homeless tribes of 
the land of their hope and destination. He seems 
to say to them, " Prolific as is the soil of Egypt, 
where we and our fathers have so long sojourned, 
abounding as it does with milk and honey — elates 
and other sweets — jet there you were slaves, de- 
prived of the enjoyment of these luxuries, doomed 
to toil on a narrow and monotonous strip of fer- 
tility, bounded on either side by a dreary, bound- 
less and monotonous desert. How cheering in the 
contrast is the land to which we now hasten ; 1 for 
the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a 
land of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths 
that spring out of the valleys and hills.' " 

Deut, 32 : 13. m Debash. The honey of bees 
may be indicated. The context, however, shows 
that the language is highly figurative, and a poetic 
license may be here presumed, for oil too is said to 
come "out of the flinty rock." 

Judg. 14 : 8. Here the text expressly declares 
that there was a swarm of bees, z—z- Devorrm. -t- 
and Debash, honey. Sept. peXiaaihv, Meltssdn. Up to 
this text we find the LXX. use the simple form pili 
in the translation of Here we find the discrim- 

ination "made by bees. 1 ' 



39B 



DATES THE "WILD HONEY" 



I Sam. 14 : 25-29. In the 25tli verse it is simply 
said there was ton honej T , upon the ground. Sept. 
fiEhaotiv. Here again the Septuagint discriminates, 
and we find the simple Heb. k r^n rendered " honey 
made by bees/ 7 in accordance with the context. 

In the 26th verse we are told that the honey 
dropped, that is, from the limb or hollow of the 
tree, where it had been deposited ; and in the 27th 
verse that it was awi rr^ beyaarath hadebash, 11 honey 
in a honey comb." The honey of bees we see is 
here very expressly indicated. This form occurs in 
Cant. 5:1. 

II Sam. 17 : 29. ton Debash, Sept. fiiU. As the 
articles enumerated in the context were sent to satisfj^ 
the hunger of David and his company, it may be 
that the honey here indicated was the sweetmeat or 
pressed date. 

I Kings, 14 : 3. ton Debash simply. 

II Chron. 31 : 5. ton Debash. Sept. [tetirog. In 
this instance ton is rendered dates in the marginal 
readings by our translators, the obvious propriety 
of which will be apparent when it is compared with 
Ex. 22 : 29. " Thou shalt not delay to offer the 
first of thy ripe fruits." We will here remark that 
it was the marginal reading of this text, in connec- 
tion with Josephus' observations on the palm trees 
of Jericho, which first suggested this investigation. 
We find the following note on this text in Bagster's 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



399 



Comprehensive Bible: "Honey or dates. The 
word ten Debash generally denotes honey produced 
by bees ; but, as we have already observed on Gen. 
43 : 11, the Jewish Doctors are of opinion that it 
here signifies dates, or the fruit of the palm-tree, 
which the Arabians call Daboos, and the honey 
(syrup) produced from them Dibs. Though Jehovah 
forbade any toi Debash or honey to be offered to 
him upon the altar, yet it appears it might be pre- 
sented as " first fruits,'' or in the way of tithes, which 
were designed for the sustenance of the priests." 

Job, 20 : 17. iTKJQin rrr. Honey and butter are 
here united, indicating a combination probably in 
frequent use among the Arabs. We have seen in 
the. note quoted from Bagster, on Gen. 43 : 11, that 
the Arabs call a preparation of their choicest dates 
and butter Dabous, a" custom and name which has 
probably come down from the days of Job. 

Psa. 19 : 10. n&m tana. Here the Psalmist ex- 
presses, in strong and figurative language, his esti- 
mates of the judgments of Jehovah ; sweeter than 
Debash, honey, and, or even than, Nbpeth, the honey 
comb or dripping honey. Here we have two kinds 
of honey distinctly recognized in the swelling gra- 
dations of the poet's style. This form occurs in 
Prov. 5:3; 24: 13 ; 27:7; and Cant. 4 : 2. 

Prov. 24 : 13, same as above, eat honey, and or 
even, the honey comb, the dropping honey. 



400 



DATES THE " W I L D HONEY" 



Cant. 5: 1. "I have eaten my honey comb," 
w Yaar. Sept. xrjgior, u with my honey" Dab- 
shi, two kinds of honey mingled in the luxuries of 
a banquet. 

Isa. 4 : 15, 22. Butter and honey. See Job, 20 : 17. 

Jer. 41 : 8. Eze. 3 : 3, and 16 : 13. In these 
instances and several others, we find the simple 
form mx There is nothing in the context specially 
to discriminate the kind of honey. 

Eze. 27 : 17. ran Debash. We have here, in the 
category of the fruits or production of trees, honey, 
oil and balm. Allusion may be made to the date- 
tree in the pictorial descriptions in chap. 47 : 12. 

Under the article " honey," Calmet says: " By 
the word ran Debash, the rabbins and lexicographers 
understand not only the honey of bees, but the 
honey of dates or the fruit of the palm-tree, or the 
dates themselves, from which honey is extracted; 
and when God enjoins the first fruits of honey to be 
offered to him, the fruit of dates seems to be meat, 
for generally the produce only of fruits was offered." 
Kitto quotes this and adds : " The Arabs also still 
apply Dibs to the dates, and the honey of dates." 

Sir John Maundevile, who visited Palestine, Ara- 
bia and India, about A. D. 1322, more than five 
hundred years ago, in his narrative says : " There 
ben other trees that baren hony, gode and swete." 
If dates are not here intended, it proves at least a 



OF J H N T H E DAI' T [ST. 401 

generic use of the term honey at that period in the 
Orient. 

We will here also introduce a quotation from 
Josephus, to which we have before referred. In an 
apparently incidental account which he gives of the 
Jordan valley and Jericho ; speaking of the prolific 
fountain of Elisha at Jericho, and of its fructifying 
powers, he says : " Accordingly it waters a larger 
space of ground than any other waters do, and 
passes along a plain of seventy furlongs long, and 
twenty broad ;* wherein it affords nourishment to 
those excellent gardens that are thick set with trees. 
There are in it many sorts of palm-trees, that are 
watered by it, different from each other in taste and 
name ; the better sort of them, when they are pressed, 
yield an excellent kind of honey, not much inferior 
in sweetness to other kinds of honey. ?, f There can 
be no doubt that he here refers to the date-palm, 
and states the fact that the pressed sweetmeat or the 
candied date was honey not much inferior in sweet- 
ness to the honey of bees, for in the immediate con- 
nection he adds, "this country withal produces 
honey from bees." 

The climate of this part of the Jordan valley, in 
its deep depression of thirteen hundred feet below 

* A very near description of the region we now rind capable of • 
artificial irrigation from the fountains of Duk and Elisha 
f Book of Wars. iv. chap. 8. 



402 



DATES THE ""WILD HONEY" 



the Mediterranean, is almost tropical ; its incessant 
heats would render that portion of it around Jericho, 
which is still abundantly supplied with water from 
this same beautiful and prolific fountain of Elisha, 
peculiarly adapted to the rearing of the palm. 

It would appear that in several varieties the palm 
was here indigenous to the soil, for we learn also 
that in the early days of Moses they so abounded 
as to give to Jericho the cognomen of " City of 
Palm-trees." It is a striking commentary on the 
character of its present wretched Bedouin Arab 
inhabitants, that a tree so invaluable for producing 
a nutritious and agreeable article of food should 
have been allowed to become extinct. The dry 
trunk of the last tree on the plain was standing near 
our encampment when we visited Jericho. Dr. 
Shaw says there were several palm-trees at Jericho 
when he visited the plain. 

It would thus seem that the word rendered honey 
by our translators, is generic in the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures, a comprehensive term for all sweets ; that it 
more frequently indicates dates than the honey of 
bees ; and that when the latter honey is intended 
to be indicated, it is generally, if not always, ac- 
companied with the qualifying terms ; and there 
seems to be evidence that the LXX so used it in the 
Septuagint version. We have seen in the quotation 
from Josephus, that the palm-tree produced what 



OF JOHN' THE BAPTIST. 



403 



was designated honey in the days of John the 
Baptist. 

"We have evidence from various quarters, that 
the Hebrew r:- Debasli, has virtually come down 
to the present day in the cognate language of the 
Arabs, in the term Dibs, as applied by them to de- 
signate dates and other sweet substances, as also in 
the Dabsi of the Maltese. The native language of 
Malta seems to be a compound of Arabic and 
Italian : but so closely assimilates with the Arabic, 
that the islanders are understood by the Arabs 
without difficulty. 

Dr. Shaw says: " Hebron alone sends every year 
to Egypt three hundred camel-loads of Rabb, which 
they call Dibse, the same word that is rendered 
honey in the Scriptures." Travels, p. 367. There 
is some evidence that the Greek collateral term 
fislij honey, was not only used by the LXX in a 
comprehensive sense, but that it has classic au- 
thority : " T6 vol pili] the Persian manna ; and meta- 
phorically of any tiling sweet." Liddell and Scott's 
Lex. sub. voce pelt. Diodorus Siculus xix. 104, uses 
tit hi uyoioi for the saccharine matter exuding from 
date-palm or olive trees. Pliny, X. H. xxiii. -i, 
and the Eabbinical writers, do the same. 

Theophrastus, a distinguished naturalist, who 
lived B. C. 870, in describing the syrup of the sugar 



404 



DATES THE "WILD 



HONEY " 



cane, says, "It is a sort of [ilk honey, extracted 
from canes and reeds." 

Strabo, on the authority of Nearchus, one of the 
captains of Alexander the Great, says, "Eeeds in 
India, yield, fish, honey without bees." 

We might here show that the honey of bees, as 
an article of food, is entirely unadapted permanently 
to sustain the healthful action of the human system ; 
and, moreover, that it was principally used as a lux- 
ury by the Jews, as it is by the Arabs of the present 
day, to sweeten their unleavened bread and drinks. 
It deserves to be remembered, too, that the Arabs, 
in their domestic customs, have brought down to 
us nearly all the peculiar habits of the Jews un- 
changed. It is only in this form that the honey 
of bees is used by them, and not as a substantial 
element of nutrition ; while dates are the principal 
food of thousands in the Orient for many months 
in the year. 

Apparently, to get over the insuperable diffi- 
culties of the texts, Matt. 3 : 4, and Mark, 1 : 6, as 
referring to the honey of bees, some learned com- 
mentators and lexicographers tell us, that this (iiU 
ftyqlov, on which the Baptist fed, was a vegetable 
honey, or manna, and not the honey of bees. Kitto 
says, "the wild honey (meli agrion) which, with lo- 
custs, formed the diet of John the Baptist, was prob- 
ably the vegetable honey, which we refer to manna.' 5 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



405 



V. 1, 859. Dr. Eobinson, in his Greek and English 
Lexicon of the New Testament, remarks on ui'n 
tiyQior; "Here the honey of wild bees is to be un- 
derstood, made in hollow trees and crevices of the 
rocks ; others understand Honey Dew, found in 
Arabia upon leaves of certain species of trees," &c. 
But he remarks, "the evidence is very slight that 
this was ever common in Judea, and especially in 
the high desert west of the Dead Sea," Our obser- 
vation led us to concur entirely in this last remark ; 
this Wilderness of Judea has ever been " a dry and 
thirsty land where no water is," and where trees or 
even shrubs have hardly been produced. 

But could we have reason to believe that vege- 
table honey, as it is termed, or manna, had been 
found here, it would not relieve the difficulty ; from 
what is known of it, its qualities are highly medi- 
cinal. " The Arabs use it as they do honey, to pour 
over their unleavened bread, or to dip their bread 
into it ; if eaten in any quantity it is said to be 
highly purgative." Kitto, v. 2, p. 294. He refers 
also to several other productions of like character. 
"We find in Sir John Maundevile's Narrative the 
following remarks in his description of the land of 
Job: "There ben hilles, where men getten gret 
plentee of manna — this manna is clept bred of Aun- 
geles — it cometh e of the dew of Hevene that fall- 
ethe upon the Herbes — men putten it in Medicynea 



406 



DATE 3 THE ''WILD HONEY" 



for ricli men, to purge evylle Blode ; for it clenseth 
the Blode, and putteth out Malencolye," 

From the want of knowledge, or having over- 
looked the peculiar qualities and use of the date, in 
ancient as well as in modern times, it appears that 
the investigations of the learned to ascertain the 
food of John, have carried some of them far away 
into deserts of uncertainty and barrenness, when a 
more simple view would have revealed the object 
of their search at the very threshold. 

We shall probably be met with this objection : If 
dates are meant by the Evangelists, how are we to 
reconcile the apparent difficulties of their being- 
designated " wild honey ? ' ? We might answer, 
that we do not believe that the Jews knew any- 
thing of the custom of domesticating the bee, and 
in that respect all their honey from the bee was 
field-honey, and if so, there was no need of the use 
of the adjective to discriminate- it, if bees' honey 
alone is intended. We reply, however, to the ob- 
jection, that it would doubtless have been equally 
proper to have rendered uih uyoioi', field-honey, or 
"honey from the field," and then we conceive we 
have the very designation which we might expect 
to have been applied to new gathered dates, " fresh 
from the field," and on their natural stems, in dis- 
tinction from the old sweetmeat, the candied, 
sweated, and pressed date. 



O F JOHN T li E 11 A i*T I 8T. 



407 



We have seen that the}^ are produced from the 
palm-tree, growing on pendant stems, of several 
pounds in weight, one of which would afford food 
to John for several days. 

That the date abounded at Jericho, in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the labors of the Baptist, there can 
be no doubt. They were thus easily obtained, port- 
able, simple, nutritious, and needing no culinary art. 
We will here add a remark omitted in its proper 
place, that the date-bearing palm and olive-tree were 
the most essential of the fruit-bearing trees of Pal- 
estine, and if the date was tithed, it must have been 
under the designation of Debash. Dr. Shaw 
says, p. 370: " Several parts of the Holy Land, no 
less than Idumea, that lies contiguous to it, are de- 
scribed by the ancients as abounding with date-trees. 
Thus Judea, which denotes the whole country of 
the Jews, is typified on several coins of Vespasian, 
by a disconsolate woman sitting under a palm-tree. 
Upon the Greek coin of his son Titus, struck upon 
a like occasion, we see a shield suspended over a 
palm-tree, with a Victory writing upon it." The 
climate of the Philistine plain is well suited to the 
production of the palm. We noticed many of them 
still existing, particularly in the vicinity of Gaza. 

It may not be improper here to say, that the sub- 
stance of these views has been suggested to a Mis- 
sionary who has spent more than thirty years in the 



408 U WILD HONEY" OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

Orient, and who is familiar with the date and its use 
as fresh from the field, and in its honeyed or sweet- 
meat state, and that he concurs in the views here 
taken. "We are admonished by the space already 
occupied, that this discussion, although by no means 
exhausted, must be referred to other hands, satisfied 
with our imperfect efforts, if they shall lead to a 
more correct elucidation of an interesting portion 



of God's Holy Word. 



THE END. 



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